(NEXSTAR) – Congressional Republicans are working to pass a massive, 1,116-page piece of legislation – titled the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” – that includes changes to everything from taxes to student loans, Medicaid to deportations, a “Golden Dome” of defense and federal cuts to SNAP.
SNAP, which stands for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, used to be called the Food Stamp Program. It provides low-income people and families with financial assistance to pay for groceries.
What changes to SNAP are in the ‘big, beautiful bill?’
The bill would first and foremost cut federal funding for SNAP by about $267 billion over a 10 year-period.
States would be expected to make up the gap, shoulder 5% of the benefit costs and a majority (75%) of SNAP’s administrative costs. Currently, states pay none of the benefit costs and only half of the administration costs.
Another provision would make states pay even more of the benefit costs if their payment error rate tops 6%. There’s a sliding scale that would require states with higher error rates to pay between 15% and 25% of the benefit costs. While supporters say it incentivizes lower error rates, critics argue it would lead to states cutting benefits for those in need.
Under the new plan, more people would also be required to prove they are working, pursuing an education or are in a training program to qualify for food assistance. Currently, able-bodied adults between the ages of 18 and 54 have to meet these work requirements to get food stamps for more than three months. Under the bill, those requirements would extend up to age 64.
There are exceptions to the work requirements, a USDA spokesperson previously told Nexstar. Homeless people, veterans, or youth ages 18 to 24 who aged out of foster care are all exempt from these requirements. People who cannot work due to a physical or mental limitation, are pregnant, or have a child 18 or younger living in their home are also exempt.
This bill would change that last exemption. Only adults caring for a dependent child under the age of 7 would be exempt from the SNAP work requirements.
What’s next for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act?
The House Rules Committee discussed the bill early Wednesday as Trump was meeting with House Republicans to convince holdouts to vote in favor of it. If it did pass the House, it would face even more hurdles in the Senate.
The act’s name is a nod to President Donald Trump, who described the legislation as a “big, beautiful bill.” Democrats have described it quite differently. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries called it an “extreme and toxic bill.”
There is a lot more proposed in the bill’s 1,116 pages. The Hill previously broke down some of the major pieces of the plan here, but several elements could change as the bill works its way through Congress.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
