With President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” now law, Delaware’s federal delegation says it will work hard to reduce — or if possible, reverse — the effects of safety net program cuts, particularly for food assistance.
In addition to Medicaid, the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is one of the largest social assistance programs facing cuts through President Trump’s major tax and spending legislation.
SNAP provides low-income individuals and families with monthly financial assistance to purchase food.
The program is set to undergo several changes under the act, including increasing the working age to stay in the program from 54 to 64 — only parents with children younger than 14 are exempt from the requirement.
While these changes alone could push tens of millions off SNAP nationwide, Delaware lawmakers are concerned the new work requirements may even throw working people off benefits if they do not report their eligibility properly.
“The thought that 37,000 Delawareans could risk losing their SNAP benefits through paperwork, red tape, and all kinds of hoops that people would be made to jump through, again, to me, that's deception," Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester said during a press event Friday at the Food Bank of Delaware.
In addition to the new work requirements, beginning in 2028, some states will be required to pay for some of the cost of SNAP benefits for the first time ever if they have a payment error rate above 6%.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Delaware’s payment error rate for fiscal year 24 was 12.37% — there are only 8 states that fell below the 6% error rate last year.
The bill also defunds SNAP-Ed, an education program aimed at providing nutrition information and public health projects and interventions, after the end of 2025.
And starting in 2027, the federal government will begin cost-sharing with states on SNAP administrative funding. This change will reduce the federal share from 50% to 25%, shifting an unprecedented amount of cost onto states.
“This bill will saddle our state with tens of millions of dollars in new costs just to maintain current food assistance. That is an unfunded mandate, plain and simple," said Congresswoman Sarah McBride.
All three members of Delaware's federal delegation emphasized that they will be working hard to minimize any impacts these future cuts could have on residents of the First State.
"These cuts are coming, and I won't stop trying to find ways to reduce the harm and reduce the impact, to work with the Food Bank, to work with all the other nonprofits arrayed around us, and to try and make sure that there aren't children going to school hungry and there aren't families wondering where their next meal comes from," Sen. Chris Coons said.
Several of these program changes are coming after the 2026 midterm election, leaving some Democrats hopeful that their party can gain enough seats in Congress to reverse some, if not all of the cuts.
"We're going to continue to fight. We're going to continue to fight back against Republican efforts to worsen these cuts, and we're going to continue to fight to restore this funding, which might not happen this year or next year, but we will not stop working until we have the votes and the power necessary to guarantee that every single person here in Delaware and across the country can get the healthcare that they need and put food on the table," Congresswoman McBride said.
Republicans currently hold a majority in both chambers of Congress.
