About one in 14 Kentuckians who rely on food assistance have lost their benefits since the implementation of House Resolution 1, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” according to the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy.
Jessica Klein, senior policy associate at the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, said it amounts to about 42,000 people out of roughly 600,000.
Klein stressed that the effect of so many people losing their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits cannot be underestimated. She noted SNAP provides nine meals for every one meal provided by a food bank.
“When people lose their grocery money through SNAP, that puts huge amounts of pressure on food banks and churches that try to fill the gap, and the answer is that they can’t fill that gap,” Klein explained.
The legislation eliminated eligibility for many lawfully present immigrants in Kentucky and put stricter work reporting requirements in place.
Klein noted that SNAP data is used to qualify people for other federal programs, meaning school nutrition funding could also be at risk. She expects years of consequences for local economies, workers and retailers in Kentucky.
“We know that SNAP improves health,” Klein asserted. “Without SNAP, that means higher costs for our health care system. And SNAP is also a generator for local economies.”
The latest version of a 2026 Farm Bill from U.S. Senate lawmakers continues to shift SNAP costs to states. Klein added that beginning in 2027 or 2028, Kentucky and other states will be required to examine their error rates to determine how much they have to pay to continue administering the SNAP program.
This article is republished with permission from Kentucky Health News. Read the original.
Melissa Patrick is a reporter for Kentucky Health News, an independent news service of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, based in the School of Journalism and Media at the University of Kentucky, with support from the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky. She has received several competitive fellowships, including the 2016-17 Nursing and Health Care Workforce Media Fellow of the Center for Health, Media & Policy, which allowed her to focus on and write about nursing workforce issues in Kentucky; and the year-long Association of Health Care Journalists 2017-18 Regional Health Journalism Program fellowship. She is a former registered nurse and holds degrees in journalism and community leadership and development from UK.
