Proposed federal budget bill could strip food aid from thousands of Utahns

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Nearly half a million Utahns struggle to access enough food for a healthy life, according to Feeding America. Now, that number could climb even higher.

Anti-hunger advocates warned that a new federal budget reconciliation bill under consideration in Washington, D.C., could result in tens of thousands of Utah residents losing access to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits—deepening the state’s food insecurity crisis.

Every Thursday night in Murray, dozens of cars line up outside Calvary Chapel Salt Lake, where volunteers hand out boxes of food to families in need.

“We wouldn’t be able to do it without this food,” said Tana Hinck, who relies on the weekly distribution to feed her family. “It helps us so we can eat through the whole week,” she added.

For people like Hinck and Chris Alcala, who said his household survives on $2,000 a month, these food pantries fill in the gaps when government assistance falls short. “If it wasn’t for these people and them doing what they doit helps us out,” Alcala said.

But even these community resources are being stretched thin—and the proposed changes to SNAP could add more strain.

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Gina Cornia, executive director of Utahns Against Hunger, said this new bill would make it harder for many low-income individuals to qualify for assistance by tightening work requirements and shifting funding responsibility from the federal government to individual states.

“In Utah, it’s over 30,000 people who could lose access to benefits,” Cornia said. “Right now, the federal government covers 100% of the benefit costs. The proposal would shift some of those costs to the state—about $33 million Utah would have to cover. That’s just not going to happen.”

SNAP, she emphasized, is a critical support system. For every one meal provided by food pantries and local distributions, SNAP delivers nine.

KUTV 2News reached out to Utah Senators Mike Lee and John Curtis with specific questions about how the state would manage the financial burden if SNAP costs shifted to Utah. We asked whether the state would raise taxes, cut other programs, or limit access to benefits. So far, neither has responded.

Beyond SNAP, the budget bill also proposes cuts that could impact other safety nets, including Pell Grants, student loan access, and Medicaid funding, which could strain hospitals—particularly in rural areas of Utah.

Currently, 188,000 Utahns rely on SNAP to help feed themselves and their families. If the bill passes, changes would be phased in over time, but the long-term consequences for families and local food banks could be severe.

As lawmakers debate in Washington, those lining up at food pantries across the state are just trying to get by.

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