Georgia SNAP seeks at least $60 million after federal budget cuts

Georgia’s SNAP administrators say they would need more than $60 million from state coffers to maintain their level of staffing after next year’s federal cuts to the program that more than one in 10 Georgians use for groceries. The news from the agency that oversees the food stamp program comes after Republican Gov. Brian Kemp […]

A “SNAP welcomed here” sign is seen at the entrance to a Big Lots store in Portland, Oregon. (Getty Images)

Georgia’s SNAP administrators say they would need more than $60 million from state coffers to maintain their level of staffing after next year’s federal cuts to the program that more than one in 10 Georgians use for groceries.

The news from the agency that oversees the food stamp program comes after Republican Gov. Brian Kemp ordered state agencies not to ask for more money for their budgets. It also illustrates the difficulty that state agencies are facing with disruptions in federal funding.

The funding need was flagged in a form that the Department of Human Services sent to the governor’s budget office. The agency also informed its board of the funding need in September.

Yet in compliance with Kemp’s budget instructions, the DHS did not make a formal request for more money in its full, formal budget request to the governor’s office.

Agency spokesperson Ellen Brown told The Current in an e-mail that “We continue to work closely with (The Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget) to determine any needs that may fall outside the parameters of the overall budget instructions.”

The governor’s office did not respond to written questions about whether he will consider the funding boost needed for the SNAP program, or his considerations as his office prepares spending plans. “The budget development process is still ongoing and our full recommendation will be released at a later time,” a spokesman wrote.

Kemp’s spending recommendations are expected in early January and his staff are already working on spending plans that will cover Oct. 1, 2026, when SNAP cuts passed in the Republican federal spending and tax law known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act cuts go into effect.

The cuts will decrease funding for state staff salaries who administer the food stamp programs from 75% to half. The amount necessary to fill that gap is about $62 million per year, according to early projections by DHS.

The new federal budget guidelines have rewritten multiple rules and procedures in the SNAP program. States must implement work requirement rules by Nov. 1 for working-age able-bodied people without dependents. Georgia also must pay a greater share of the salaries for staff working to upgrade the software system which determines eligibility for residents in the state. New rules mean that the federal government may withhold some federal funding from states that make too many payment errors in their SNAP programs.

Savannah state Senator Ben Watson, a Republican, will oversee the discussions about the SNAP program as the chair of the budgeting subcommittee that oversees the Georgia Department of Human Services.

In an interview with The Current GA, Watson said it’s a long time until the legislative session starts and the situation is fluid in Washington, D.C.

He said the federal government may yet look at things like the definition of the federal poverty level or at tax credits for low-income households.

Watson said the state will look at whether Georgia’s SNAP program might be “tightened up.”

“So will Georgia be a leader in this and see if we can make some exciting change? We’ll see,” Watson said.

All Democrats in Congress and a few Republicans voted against the federal tax and spending law passed last summer. Georgia’s delegation split on party lines.

The Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, an Atlanta-based nonprofit, notes that small towns and rural areas such as McIntosh County, tend to have higher SNAP utilization than the state average, and that their residents have the most to lose if Georgia decreases funding or changes eligibility to make it harder to get into the program.

States are still trying to assess all the impacts of the federal funding cuts, and are awaiting federal guidance from Washington, D.C. about how the changes will affect social safety net programs and state administration of those programs.

Much of any upheaval in the budget cuts will be faced by the new Georgia governor who will be elected next November. Kemp, who is limited to two terms in office, will be stepping down in January 2027.

Brown, the DHS spokeswoman, said that her agency remains committed to the best customer service for Georgians in need of such aid.

“We’re always focused on cutting down application and renewal processing times for the average SNAP recipient through better customer service and technology,” Brown wrote.

This article first appeared on The Current and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.