The Farm Bill is landmark legislation that reauthorizes federal agriculture and nutrition programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). As Congress considers the 2026 Farm Bill, decisions made now will determine whether millions of children, seniors, workers, and families have the resources they need to afford food amid persistently high grocery costs. 

SNAP is the nation’s largest and most effective anti-hunger program. It reduces poverty, improves health and educational outcomes, and strengthens local economies in every state. Protecting and strengthening SNAP is essential to ensuring families can meet their basic needs and build long-term stability. 

At the same time, inequitable policies and false, racialized narratives have long shaped public benefits systems in ways that disproportionately harm communities of color and families with low incomes. The Farm Bill presents a critical opportunity to correct course — not deepen harm. 

The Current Proposal Falls Short 

The 2026 Farm Bill proposal advanced by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “G.T.” Thompson (R-PA) misses the opportunity to repair the damage caused by last year’s H.R. 1 cuts and restore SNAP to a position where it can truly serve families in need. 

SNAP is currently facing nearly $187 billion in cuts, a radical cost shift to states, expanded work requirements that restrict access, new food restrictions that limit recipients’ choices, and additional administrative burdens. The program is already strained and unable to fully meet families’ needs. The current proposal would only make matters worse. 

Beyond failing to reverse the harm of H.R.1, the proposal also falls short in key areas that would strengthen nutrition access and program integrity. It does not adequately equip a program known as GusNIP that increases the purchase of fruits and vegetables by providing point-of-sale incentives to income-eligible SNAP participants. It also fails to end the draconian policy that bars individuals with felony drug convictions from accessing SNAP and does not include meaningful measures to modernize SNAP EBT cards or permanently reimburse victims of EBT skimming. 

As we continue the fight to reverse the harm of H.R. 1 and restore the program, CLASP and the Community Partnership Group continue to uplift our framework for how policymakers can and should strengthen SNAP: 

• SNAP benefits must be sufficient.  
• SNAP must be available to all who need it.  
• Trust, respect, and trauma-informed care must guide program administration.  
• SNAP must promote economic opportunity.  

Now is the time for policymakers to strengthen SNAP in ways that reflect the realities of people’s lives and ensure that everyone has the resources they need not just to survive, but to thrive. 

Reversing the Harm of H.R. 1

• The Hunger Behind the Numbers: The True Cost of SNAP Cuts
  
• Reconciliation Changes to SNAP Would Disproportionately Harm Black and Brown Communities and Families with Low Incomes

SNAP Benefit Levels

• Expanding Double Up Bucks is Essential for Reducing Food Insecurity
• We must continue to update the Thrifty Food Plan to ensure SNAP benefits are sufficient
• Modernizing the TFP: One Step on the Journey Toward Food Sovereignty
• Congress and States Must Do More to Address EBT Skimming

SNAP Benefit Accessibility

• To Help Returning Citizens Rebuild Their Lives, Congress Must Lift the SNAP Felony Drug Ban
• SNAP Time Limits Can Reduce Access for Disabled People
• Congress can address campus hunger by lifting SNAP’s college student work requirements
• The SNAP Hot Foods Ban Is Inequitable and Should Be Removed
• Work requirements won’t lead to better employment or economic outcomes
• Immigrants Have Been Waiting 25 Years for the LIFT the BAR Act
• No More Double Punishments: Lifting the Ban on SNAP and TANF for People with Prior Felony Drug Convictions
• SNAP and Students: Food Assistance Can Support College Success

Trust and Respect in Program Administration

• SNAP “Program Integrity:” How Racialized Fraud Provisions Criminalize Hunger
• CLASP Testimony on the Racialized History of Fraud in SNAP

Economic Opportunity

• Strategies to Improve the Effectiveness of SNAP’s Employment and Training Program
• Eliminating Asset Limits: Creating Savings for Families and State Governments

Meet the Experts

The Community Partnership Group (CPG) is a diverse collective of activists from across the United States who partner with nonprofits, administering agencies, and policymakers to ensure that their work is grounded in the expertise of people directly impacted by poverty and/or anti-poverty policies (e.g., the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP). Each member of the CPG has developed their expertise through direct experience with public benefits programs—whether through participation or discriminatory exclusion—and their ongoing advocacy to eliminate poverty and barriers to access and inclusion within their communities. Read more ⏩

Parker Gilkesson is a senior policy analyst with CLASP’s Income and Work Supports team. She specializes in work support programs for people with low incomes and focuses on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Parker is a subject matter expert in social policy, benefit eligibility, human services delivery, racial equity, community partnership, and state and local policy regarding SNAP, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and Medicaid. Read more ⏩

Juan Carlos Gomez is the director for legislative affairs at CLASP. He works with the rest of the team to uplift policies that support immigrant families, such as securing access to public benefits and ensuring that children in immigrant families have the support and resources necessary to succeed. Additionally, he co-chairs the Protecting Immigrant Families coalition’s federal advocacy working group. Read more ⏩

Teon Hayes is a senior policy analyst with the income and work supports team at CLASP. She is passionate about helping communities historically marginalized by public policy overcome systemic barriers. Within her policy expertise, she brings an understanding of the need to incorporate lived experience and center racial equity. Read more ⏩

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