Federal Updates
July 29, 2026 Update
SNAP Participation Falls Again in Latest State Data
New national and state figures show SNAP participation continuing its steepest decline in three decades. Between the enactment of H.R. 1 in July 2025 and April of 2026, participation fell by more than 4.5 million people nationwide, a drop of about 11%. Participation declined in every state but Alaska, by 5% or more in 44 states and by 10% or more in 23. April alone accounted for 426,952 fewer participants than March.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated H.R. 1 would reduce SNAP participation by roughly 2.4 million people in an average month; actual losses since the law passed are more than double that figure. Unemployment has not fallen over the same period, and food prices remain elevated.
In Kansas, enrollment fell by nearly 24,000 people between July 2025 and April 2026, a decrease of about 13%. In Missouri, enrollment fell by nearly 50,000, a decrease of about 7%. Children account for a substantial share of those losses. Missouri reported 253,677 children enrolled in March, down 6.5% from a year earlier. Kansas average monthly child enrollment fell to 79,807 in 2026, down 7.3%. Nationally, in the 19 states with available data, one million fewer children are receiving SNAP than in July 2025.
The Latest on SNAP Cost Shifts
On October 1, 2026, the federal share of SNAP administrative costs drops from 50% to 25%, and states begin covering benefit costs in FY2028 based on their payment error rates. States facing those bills could be incentivized to add verification hurdles that push eligible families off the rolls, which would worsen an already critical situation. Congress can still reverse the cuts and delay the cost shift via the Farm Bill, appropriations legislation, or continuing resolution (CR). The House has approved a CR to fund the government beyond the September 30 deadline to December 4, but Senate Majority Leader John Thune has indicated that the Senate will advance its own CR with adjustments favored by the White House instead of the House-passed measure.
Senate Farm Bill: Markup Delayed, Cost Shift Unresolved
The Senate Agriculture Committee has not yet marked up the Agricultural Act of 2026, the Farm Bill 2.0 discussion draft Chairman John Boozman released on June 23. Boozman said on July 14 that a markup would come the week of July 20 at the earliest and more likely the week after, citing Sen. Mitch McConnell’s hospitalization and a committee split 12–11. The markup date has now slipped repeatedly since the original target of late spring.
Current Farm Bill authorities expire September 30, 2026. The Senate is in session through the end of July, then returns in September with three working weeks before the November 3 midterms. Any Farm Bill needs 60 votes on the Senate floor, which means it must be bipartisan, and Ranking Member Amy Klobuchar has been clear that Committee Democrats want the bill to address H.R. 1’s SNAP provisions before broader negotiations proceed.
CBO now estimates a one-year delay of the benefit cost-share would cost about $6 billion, and a two-year delay about $12.5 billion. For comparison, the budget resolution the House passed last week allocates $12 billion for farm assistance. The money to delay the cost shift is the same order of magnitude as money Congress has already found for other agriculture priorities.
Advocacy efforts are expanding. A bipartisan group of 210 mayors, including five mayors from Kansas and Missouri, wrote to the Senate Agriculture Committee on July 20 asking Congress to strengthen SNAP, and the National Governors Association has joined a coalition letter making similar recommendations. A recent American Public Human Services Association survey of all 50 state SNAP agencies found 29% identifying narrowed eligibility as a risk of the cost shift and 11% considering withdrawal from SNAP entirely.
House Passes Third Reconciliation Framework
On July 22, the House passed a $95 billion budget resolution by a vote of 216–214, opening a third reconciliation process this Congress. The framework directs $73 billion to defense and intelligence, $10 billion to the House Administration Committee for the SAVE America Act, and up to $12 billion to the House Agriculture Committee for farm assistance.
The resolution contains no SNAP cuts, but because the framework passed without offsets and fiscal conservatives have insisted the agriculture portion be paid for, the concern for forthcoming cuts remains. Reconciliation bills can only make changes within the jurisdiction of the instructed committees, and SNAP is the largest program under the House Agriculture Committee’s jurisdiction. If offsets are demanded, that is where the committee would have to find them. Chairman Glenn Thompson has declined to say how the $12 billion would be paid for, calling it the administration’s decision rather than his own.