SNAP enrollment plummets in Arizona, a potential harbinger for Ohio, other states

The number of Arizonans getting SNAP benefits has fallen by about half in less than a year, a remarkable drop in nutrition aid that may preview the program’s future nationwide following a landmark law to limit assistance that President Trump championed last year (Source: “Faced With Piles of New Paperwork, People Are Losing Food Stamps,” New York Times, July 20).
 
The 2025 federal reconciliation bill HR 1, sometimes referred to as the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” made the deepest cuts in SNAP history. It expanded work rules, cut in half the federal share of administrative expenses (which could lead other states to cut caseworkers, as Arizona has) and required states with high error rates to pay up to 15% of benefit costs.
 
Many of the 440,000 Arizonans dropped from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — food stamps — remain eligible for help. But the new law establishes steep penalties on states that make too many mistakes when awarding benefits. The costs are so large that state officials say they could end the program.
 
To learn more about the federal policy impact on Ohio’s SNAP program, see HPIO’s SNAP at a Glance: Key Changes from HR 1.