SNAP Cuts Could Disproportionately Impact Key California Demographic

Newsweek

10-07-2025

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Federal legislation signed into law last week could cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by $186 billion over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office, instituting the largest overhaul to U.S. food assistance policy in recent years.
In California, where SNAP is administered as CalFresh, those reductions could threaten a vital resource that supported five million residents between 2023 and 2024.
And a new study by the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute (LPPI) found that California's Latino population—which make up a majority of CalFresh recipients—will likely bear the brunt of these changes due to high rates of food insecurity and regional disparities in benefit access.
Why It Matters
SNAP reductions come as rising food insecurity continues to afflict Californians, with nearly 45 percent of adults unable to afford enough food in 2023, according to the study.
Latinos is especially exposed, according to LPPI, with 55 percent of CalFresh participants being from that community.
SNAP advocates say the new funding cuts, coupled with stricter work requirements and cost shifting to states, risk undermining the basic health, nutrition, and economic stability of millions, particularly in agricultural regions and immigrant households.
Organic produce is displayed at a supermarket in Monterey Park, California, on February 12, 2025.
Organic produce is displayed at a supermarket in Monterey Park, California, on February 12, 2025.
FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images
What To Know
Key Provisions in the New SNAP Law
The SNAP overhaul, passed as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act at the center of President Donald Trump's fiscal agenda, includes major cost changes and ties state funding obligations to payment error rates.
Newsweek reached out to Republican California Representatives Doug LaMalfa and Tom McClintock, who both voted for the legislation, for comment.
States with error rates above 6 percent must now share in benefit costs, escalating fiscal pressure for states with high-enrollment in the program like California.
Researchers from UCLA LPPI warn these changes "represent real harm to communities across California."
"Reducing food assistance means forcing families to make impossible choices between meals, rent, and health care," LPPI faculty director Arturo Vargas Bustamante said. "It risks deepening existing inequalities and will hit hardest in regions and neighborhoods that are already struggling with food insecurity."
UCLA LPPI's analysis found that 48 percent of low-income Latino adults in California experience food insecurity, a rate substantially higher than the 38 percent among white Californians and 37 percent among Asian or Pacific Islander Californians.
Latinos also form the majority of CalFresh child enrollees (40 percent versus 33 percent state average) and working-age participants (69 percent in the labor force), which LPPI says illustrates the extent to which working families and children rely on these benefits.
Participation in CalFresh is especially high in agricultural counties such as Imperial and those across the Central Valley, where food insecurity is most acute and Latinos comprise up to 90 percent of enrollees, according to the study.
Cuts in SNAP are expected to have the harshest effects in these regions, threatening the food security of core communities essential to the state's food production industry. Statewide, CalFresh distributed $12 billion in benefits to five million individuals between 2023 and 2024, averaging $189 per recipient monthly.
Over three million Californians are dually enrolled in CalFresh and Medi-Cal, California's version of Medicaid, including 1.8 million Latinos.
In other states, however, different demographics could bear the greatest brunt of the cuts, experts say.
"In places like Alabama or Mississippi, it's often low-income white communities that will be most affected," Kevin Thompson, the CEO of 9i Capital Group and the host of the 9innings podcast, told Newsweek. "The new law introduces stricter work requirements, which will inevitably lead to some people losing benefits—either from missed deadlines or delays in paperwork."
According to the study, food insecurity is tied to poorer health outcomes, reduced care access and economic hardship. The SNAP cuts arrive as California continues to face challenges in overall life expectancy recovery and growing rates of homelessness, particularly among low-income minority groups.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated that 3 million more Americans could lose food assistance if the SNAP eligibility changes—including stricter work requirements—take effect nationwide.
What People Are Saying
Kevin Thompson, the CEO of 9i Capital Group and the host of the 9innings podcast, told Newsweek: "The shift to block grants means states will have to shoulder more of the funding burden. That likely results in reduced aid for lower-income communities across the board, as states trim programs to fit tighter budgets."
Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor for the University of Tennessee at Martin, told Newsweek: "The alterations made to SNAP that include new requirements and more common eligibility check-ins are going to take a toll on enrollments, and that will hit the Latino community hard in a state that has a larger population and has more who struggle to stay above the poverty line given the higher cost of living."
Republican California Representative Doug LaMalfa said in a previous statement: "This package delivers a lot of what we've been pushing for years. It means more jobs and a stronger economy... Importantly, it gets us back to the principle that if you're a healthy able-bodied adult, you should be employed. I'm glad to see the House pass it and look forward to seeing it signed into law."
Republican California Representative Tom McClintock said in a previous statement: "This bill fulfills many of our promises to the American people: lower taxes, lighter regulations, a secure border, more frugal government and a war on waste. Throughout history, these are the policies that have produced prosperity and security and there is every reason to believe they will again."
What Happens Next
The SNAP overhaul is scheduled to go into effect over the next several years.
"Long term, it could be devastating; more food insecurity will lead to more health problems and higher numbers of those living in poverty," Beene said.