Be the Voice for Alleviating Hunger

The bill proposes a $211 billion cut to SNAP over 10 years through an unprecedented change in the structure of the program in addition to cuts to eligibility and benefit levels.

Iowa’s food banks already face increasing pressure: they distributed over 61 million meals last year, up from the pandemic peak of 51 million. This trend indicates deepening food insecurity, not improvement.

COST-SHARING TO STATES: Puts undue financial burden on Iowa.

1. Under the new Senate language, Iowa avoids immediate cost-sharing, but even a slight increase of less than a percent in our error rate would trigger a $26M penalty
2. The state will absorb a $13M hit due to shifting more administrative costs to the states
3. The state recently had to draw over $900 million from its reserves to balance the budget—this level of emergency funding use is unsustainable long-term.
4. Forcing states to shoulder additional SNAP costs risks destabilizing state budgets, leading to potential cuts in other essential services like education, infrastructure, and healthcare.
5. Iowa’s exemplary management of SNAP should be rewarded, not penalized. Imposing cost-sharing on states with low error rates sends the wrong message and disincentivizes efficiency.
6. Congress should look at Iowa’s example of implementing a business process redesign focused on increased efficiency and accuracy in the application process and collaborated with the federal government to build a new eligibility verification process
7. Iowa received a $1.8M fine for having an excessive SNAP error rate in 2018 (over 12%), and with the implementation of the new system, it now stands at 5.1%.

Please contact:
Senator Grassley’s DC Office: (202) 224-3744
Senator Ernst’s DC Office: (202) 224-3254

Families with children already struggle; this will reduce access.

The bill proposes a $211 billion cut to SNAP over 10 years through an unprecedented change in the structure of the program in addition to cuts to eligibility and benefit levels.

Iowa’s food banks already face increasing pressure: they distributed over 61 million meals last year, up from the pandemic peak of 51 million. This trend indicates deepening food insecurity, not improvement

CHILDREN WILL BE KICKED OFF SNAP

1. The proposed changes to SNAP redefine who counts as a dependent, excluding children younger than 10 years old from protection against work requirements for their parents.
2. That means fourth graders could lose access to food because their parents can't meet new work rules.
3. Food insecurity undermines childhood health, brain development, and academic success.
4. The Iowa Legislature has prioritized reducing chronic absenteeism in schools, recognizing that kids need to be in class to learn and succeed.
5. But at the same time, proposals to cut SNAP or impose stricter rules on families threaten to increase childhood hunger—a leading factor in school absences.
6. SNAP already has extensive work requirements for many recipients, and most able-bodied adults who can work are already doing so.

Please contact:
Senator Grassley’s DC Office: (202) 224-3744
Senator Ernst’s DC Office: (202) 224-3254

REMOVE STATE COST-SHARING PROVISION

• Under the new Senate language, Iowa avoids an immediate cost-sharing, but even a slight increase of less than a percent in our error rate would trigger a $26M penalty
• The state will absorb a $13M hit due to shifting more administrative costs to the states
• This provision will be cost prohibited to most states and will make states choose what services to end

IMPLEMENT INITIATIVE TO LOWER SNAP ERROR RATES

• Use Iowa as an example of the type of collaboration that works between the state and federal government
• The state partnered with the federal government to tackle our extraordinarily high SNAP error rate to now become one of the lowest. That will create the type of savings all Americans can support

KEEP KIDS ON SNAP

• Children should never be collateral damage in a policy debate
• We ask Congress to keep the current law for work requirements as it comes to child dependents
• A parent with a fourth grader still has childcare responsibilities. Labeling them “able-bodied adults without dependents” is disconnected from reality.

SAVE SNAP-ED

• We share the President and Congress’ goal of making our citizens healthy
• SNAP-Ed does just that. It operates in every state and partners with community organizations, schools, pantries, and public agencies to improve health outcomes.
• The program works: 40% of participants increased eating fruits and vegetables and reduced their consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages
• 35% became more active
• SNAP-Ed works to Make Americans Healthy Again

Please contact:
Senator Grassley’s DC Office: (202) 224-3744
Senator Ernst’s DC Office: (202) 224-3254

RURAL IOWA IMPACT: Fewer customers in rural grocery stores leads to store closures and food deserts.

SNAP STRENGTHENS LOCAL ECONOMIES

• According to the National Grocers Association, SNAP supported more than 389,000 jobs, contributed $20 billion in wages and generated over $4.5 billion in federal and state tax revenue in 2024 alone.
• The Food Industry Association (FMI) estimates that SNAP purchases account for nearly 5% of all U.S. supermarket sales – benefiting local retailers and helping drive consumer demand, especially in rural communities where independent grocers are economically vital.
• SNAP is the nation’s most effective program for addressing hunger. It’s temporary, targeted and supports people through short-term challenges.
• The program is a good investment that strengthens local economies – particularly in rural areas – by supporting family-owned grocery stores, farmers’ markets and food retailers.
• SNAP has modernized significantly in recent years, with technology that ensures accountability and reduces fraud. Further cuts won’t improve the system – they will take food away from families who need it.
• Rural communities are resilient and resourceful, but they also face real challenges—higher food insecurity and fewer resources, particularly access to food and health care.
• According to Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap, 85% of the counties with the highest food insecurity are rural. While nearly 20% of children across the country are experiencing food insecurity, in some rural counties, child food insecurity rates are estimated to be as high as 50%.

SNAP BI PARTISAN SUPPORT IN IOWA

• According to our January IFBA poll, 68% of Iowans support SNAP in its current form, including: 50% of Republicans
• Strong bipartisan support shows that SNAP is not a partisan issue—it’s a people issue.
• This level of support underscores that Iowans recognize the program's value in fighting hunger and poverty.
• 66% of Iowans report that food insecurity is an issue in their communities.

Please contact:
Senator Grassley’s DC Office: (202) 224-3744
Senator Ernst’s DC Office: (202) 224-3254

During the 2024 legislative session, the legislature appropriated $300,000 for Food Banks,
emergency feeding organizations and schools to buy from Choose Iowa members.

Choose Iowa’s purpose is to connect consumers to Iowa produce and food products and expand markets for Iowa farmers. Food Banks are providing a 1:1 match for every dollar they receive, maximizing every dollar and increasing the buying power to help families in Iowa.

The Ask: Continue the program and increase the appropriation to Food Banks to purchase produce and food products from Choose Iowa vendors.

Resources:
Choose Iowa website: https://www.chooseiowa.com/index.php/

Double Up Food Bucks is a federal program that doubles the value of federal SNAP benefits spent at participating farmers markets and grocery stores, allowing people to bring home more fruits and vegetables, while supporting Iowa farmers.

Talking Points:

• Double Up Food Bucks allows SNAP users to match $1: $1 purchases of fresh fruits and vegetables made with their EBT card, up to $10 per day, to purchase fresh produce.
• In 2023, there were over 700,000 servings of produce purchase with DUFB, 36 counties with DUFB available, and over $800,000 worth of economic impact
• In 2023, over $1.2M in DUFB were earned, nearly $600,000 DUFB were redeemed, over 44,000 Iowans benefitted from the program, and over $200,000 in DUFB were redeemed at Farmers Markets

The Ask: Support legislation appropriating $1M to Double Up Food Bucks. The legislation, HF 2022 was co-sponsored by Rep. Shannon Latham (R), Rep. Chad Ingels (R), and Rep. David Young (R). Ask House members to reintroduce this legislation and co-sponsor. Ask Senate members to introduce companion legislation.

Resources:

Healthiest State Initiative 2023 Annual Report

Double Up Food Bucks is a Win-Win