Arizona Food Bank warns Republican budget would cause families to go hungry

The Arizona Food Bank Network is sounding the alarm over the new GOP spending package that will cut food stamps and further strain already stretched food banks. 

The Arizona Food Bank Network and a coalition of advocacy organizations held a press conference on Wednesday to warn about the impacts of President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which will cut roughly $300 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.

The legislation — which passed the Senate earlier this week, passed the House on Thursday, and is expected to be signed into law on Friday — will be the steepest cut to SNAP in the program’s history. Many of the nearly 1 million Arizonans who rely on SNAP, also known as food stamps, will see reduced or eliminated benefits. 

April Bradham, president and CEO of the Arizona Food Bank Network, worries that the budget will cause more people to go hungry and further strain already-stretched food banks, which have limited  resources to ensure Arizonans can eat.

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“Arizona is already in a hunger crisis, and our food banks are rising to the challenge, adapting to the changing conditions of food insecurity everyday,” Bradham said, alongside members of Ability360, the Children’s Action Alliance, the Arizona Center for Economic Progress, and the Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans.

“The need for support already cannot be understated. If these cuts go through, the need will be more than we have ever experienced in our network.”

Last month, more than 700,000 Arizonans visited Arizona’s food banks for help, according to Bradham. To navigate the organization’s already strained resources, Bradham said the food bank had to ask for additional support from external donors, foundations, and philanthropic groups. 

Bradham pledged that food banks will do everything in their power to help hungry Arizonans, but that could result in each family receiving less food or less nutritious meals as the organization scrambles to make up for limited resources and rising costs as a consequence of the Republican bill. 

Cost sharing

Under the GOP bill, states will have to cover a portion of SNAP costs for the first time starting in fiscal year 2028, which advocates say Arizona is not equipped to handle. 

Currently, the federal government covers the full cost of SNAP. Shifting those costs to states could lead some states to drop out of the program altogether, leaving the nearly 1 million Arizonans who rely on SNAP in a difficult position.

Earlier this week, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs joined 22 other Democratic governors in signing a letter urging Congress not to gut funding for SNAP or shift the financial responsibility to the states.

The new legislation also requires additional eligibility verifications, something advocates worry will discourage working class families from receiving benefits. 

January Contreras, executive director of the Children’s Action Alliance, warned that the new eligibility requirements for SNAP and Medicaid are thinly veiled attempts to push people off the programs.

“A parent who has two or three jobs will not be able to keep up with the paperwork requirements,” Contreras said. “It has a record of making eligible people lose their insurance.”

“How do you look a child or a parent in the eye and tell them that they may lose health care insurance or help with buying groceries just as economic uncertainty and the cost of raising a family are rising sky high?” Contreras said.