Fed food stamp cuts may cost SC over $100 million. How will it worsen hunger?

Over summer break, University of South Carolina hospitality assistant professor Scott Taylor Jr. can still be found in the kitchen making meals and snacks for college students who face food insecurity. 

“I used to work in restaurants,” Taylor said. “My job is to feed people. And still today, it’s how can I feed people on campus and take care of that community?”

But feeding students, and other people around the state, may become more difficult in the coming years as major changes to the federal food benefits program go into effect, advocates and researchers warn.

Around 1 in 10 people living in South Carolina receive federal food benefits. In April 2025, over 567,000 South Carolinians were on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, according to data from the United States Department of Agriculture. 

SNAP doesn’t feed everyone who faces food insecurity in the state. About one in seven South Carolina resident face hunger, according to Feeding America. 

Federal changes to SNAP could push people off the program, leaving them to rely on food banks and pantries. The reforms are one piece of the federal government’s budget reconciliation bill.

The policy changes could strain food banks, pantries and other organizations in the private sector that address hunger, particularly if the state budget doesn’t fill in the gaps.

“When we are seeing cuts in social support programs, it means that our government is, in a way, devaluing the support that those programs are providing people,” said Madaline Allen, a research associate who, as a student, helped develop a report on South Carolina universities’ response to food security in 2024. She also volunteered with the University of South Carolina’s food pantry while studying political science and sociology.

Under the budget reconciliation bill, South Carolina could have to pay for a portion of the benefits for SNAP for the first time. South Carolina will likely have to come up with over $129 million every year beginning in the fall of 2027. States will also have to pay for a greater share of the administrative costs. 

In the most recent budget, the state allocated about $7.2 million from the general fund to running the SNAP program. It allocated $17.3 million in total funds, which includes the federal government’s half of administrative costs. State officials were not immediately available to confirm its portion of the funds. 

“The state government should be furious at our federal leaders, at how they’re shifting these burdens to the states who often have balanced budget requirements for their state budgets, and they may find the only thing they can do is either cut services or cut these programs in order to make their budgets work,” said Sue Berkowitz, the policy director at the South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center. 

More people will also have to prove they work or volunteer in order to keep SNAP benefits. That means some South Carolina residents, including teenagers, older adults, homeless people and veterans, may also become ineligible to receive SNAP benefits.

‘Big Beautiful Bill’ changes

The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” makes several changes to the SNAP program. Proponents say the cuts will help eliminate unnecessary spending and reduce fraud, particularly since states will have to pay more for high error rates. Changes to nutrition programs are expected to save $254 billion in federal spending over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office. 

Most changes won’t go into effect for over a year, giving the state government time to react.

States could have to pay for a portion of the benefits, depending on its error rate. State legislatures will also have to pay, starting fiscal year 2027, for 75% of administrative costs associated with the program, rather than the current 50%. 

Budget reconciliation also broadened work requirements, meaning more people will be required to prove that they work 80 hours a month to qualify for food benefits.

“We know that means folks who are currently on the program, who are currently receiving SNAP benefits would no longer be eligible,” said Ashley Page Bookhart, a SNAP-Ed program coordinator. SNAP-Ed works provide nutrition educate throughout the country. The budget reconciliation bill also cuts funding to all SNAP-Ed programs. 

Now, individuals have to be over 65 to receive benefits without proving they work, rather than over 54. SNAP households with teenage children, ages 14-18, will also have to prove they work. Veterans, homeless people and young adults who were in foster care will also be wrapped up in the new work requirements.

During a July 18 news conference, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott said having a job is “good for the human soul” and that work requirements will boost employment in the U.S. But advocates and researchers argue that there are often barriers for people who are looking for work, including transportation and child care. Plus, it can sometimes be challenging for individuals to prove they are working, they say. 

“We already have these hurdles and challenges and administrative paperwork and documentation that make the process much harder for people to complete,” Allen said. “So to have reform where state resources would be stretched thinner, kind of prevents us from working on reducing those barriers and instead would potentially create more.”

The city of Columbia’s homeless services programs helps individuals register for SNAP, Medicare and Medicaid, said director Kameisha Heppard. She said it will be hard for people in the city who are chronically unsheltered to find work.

“When you tell them, in order for them to get SNAP, they have to work, it’s still challenging for them, because it’s a mindset,” Heppard said.

State efforts to shore up program

Many state governments will have to fund a percentage of SNAP benefits for the first time in the program’s history. How much will depend on the state’s error rate. The changes begin in the fiscal year 2028 budget.

The error rate measures states’ SNAP programs’ accuracy for determining benefits and eligibility. It captures over and under payments, but over payments are typically higher, according to USDA data. 

Under the budget reconciliation bill, if a state’s error rate is under 6%, it will not pay anything for the benefits. If the error rate is 6% or greater and under 8%, the state will pay 5%. If the state has an error rate between 8% and 10%, the state will pay for 10% of the program. For any error rate 10% or greater, the state will pay 15%. 

“These are not going to be easy decisions for states, but you’re given a new mandate from the federal government,” Page said. Her hope is that lawmakers will meet with food advocates before making decisions about cuts. 

In fiscal year 2024, South Carolina had an error rate of 9.25%, which is under the national average of 10.93%, according to USDA data. But in fiscal year 2023, the state had an error rate of 22.57%. For the first year of the change, states can opt to use the error rate from fiscal years 2025 or 2026.

In fiscal year 2024, the SNAP benefits cost nearly $1.3 billion in South Carolina, according to data from the USDA. If the state has to pay for 10% of the program beginning in 2028, lawmakers will have to fill an over $129 million hole, or start making cuts to SNAP.

State Rep. Bruce Bannister, R-Greenville, is the chairman of the House committee responsible for handling the state budget. The state Department of Social Services will focus on cutting the error rate to below 6% over the next two years to avoid paying for the benefits, he said. 

Bannister said the state will likely put more money into paying for the administration of the SNAP program in future budgets.

“I think you’ll see some investments made in the state being more efficient and more accurate,” Bannister said. 

But state Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, said the legislature is unlikely to shore up SNAP in South Carolina. Cobb-Hunter is also on the House committee responsible for handling the state budget.

“Especially given the current climate here in this state, I’m not sensing any kind of overwhelming, shall we say, support for anything that will help keep the safety net from continuing to be in tatters,” Cobb-Hunter said.

The $129 million would be on top of the larger share of administrative costs required to run the program. If the state doesn’t pay for those additional costs, the error rate could go up, and South Carolina may lose out on more federal funding, Berkowitz said. 

“If we’re going to have to go up to 75% versus 50-50, it’s going to be really dramatic and harmful,” Berkowitz said. “And if our state doesn’t come up with that, we’re going to see our error rates go up even more.”

Food bank, local organizations reactions

Around 18 pounds of fresh produce are packed into each family-size box by FoodShare South Carolina volunteers. The organization buys food in bulk, so they can offer more affordable produce to customers, said executive director Omme-Salma Rahemtullah. SNAP recipients can receive the 18 pound box of produce for $5, since the South Carolina Department of Social Service will reimburse FoodShare $15 for the food. 

But cuts to SNAP threaten access to the healthy food, Rahemtullah said. If people cannot access large amounts of produce for $5, they may use their money on less healthy food, she said.

“People shop where they can afford and where that’s convenient for them, so that often means corner stores and gas stations, and they do not have fresh produce,” Rahemtullah said.

The nonprofit and private sector will have to step up without government funding, Rahemtullah said. But she worries the infrastructure isn’t there to help everyone. 

With cuts to the SNAP program and less eligibility, Erinn Rowe, the CEO of Harvest Hope, says more people will need help from the food bank. 

“If the benefits are reduced, those people still have to eat, right?” Rowe said. “So they’ve been paying for their food with those benefits. Now that money’s gone. What are they going to buy food with? Which is where I am projecting an increase in people coming to need our services at a food bank or food pantries, because the money that they were originally buying food with is now not there.”

Harvest Hope is anticipating a deficit in its budget this year due to overall economic trends, Rowe said. She said people are holding on to their money and donating less, particularly due to 2025’s economic uncertainty. 

Food banks may have to more than double the number of meals it serves to meet future needs spurred by the budget reconciliation bill, Feeding America, the national organization behind Harvest Hope in Columbia, wrote in a July 1 statement. The organization distributed six million meals last year, according to the statement. 

“It isn’t clear to me that food banks are going to be able to step into that position that they’ve always taken in the past, which is in a time of crisis, we are going to be here to support our communities,” said Hilary Seligman, a professor at the University of California San Francisco. Her research focuses on food insecurity and policy.

This story was originally published July 24, 2025 at 10:12 AM.