SNAP basics
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the nation’s largest and most effective anti-hunger program, reaching 41.7 million people nationwide in 2024. In Ohio, SNAP serves nearly 1.4 million Ohioans, including almost 600,000 children.
The vast majority of SNAP recipients in Ohio are children, individuals with disabilities, elderly adults, and those who care for them. SNAP recipients who can work generally do work but are in low-wage jobs with unpredictable schedules. For working-age adults not living with children, SNAP already imposes strict work requirements, limiting individuals to just three months of benefits in a three-year period unless they can independently find and complete 80 or more hours per month of work, volunteering, or training.
Key Takeaways
- The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is one of the government's most effective economic tools to respond to a recession.
- Ohioans receive $265 million per month in federally funded SNAP benefits, with a total economic impact of $4.9 billion per year.
- Congressional leaders across the political spectrum have leveraged SNAP’s counter-cyclical design to boost local spending when the national economy weakens.
- Congressional proposals to require states to pay any portion of SNAP benefits for its residents would undermine the program’s effectiveness, especially during economic recessions.
- Even a 10% state spending requirement for SNAP benefits would require an appropriation of at least $632 million in Ohio’s 2026-2027 biennial budget.
- Ohio’s Congressional delegation should oppose proposals to reduce federal spending by shifting SNAP benefit costs to state and/or county governments.
.png)
