Attorney General Bonta Urges Congress to Restore SNAP Benefits and Protect Food Assistance in Farm Bill

Coalition urges U.S. Senate to modify House-passed Farm Bill to restore food assistance funding for millions of Americans

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today joined a coalition of 23 attorneys general in urging congressional leaders to restore Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and eligibility protections in the upcoming Farm Bill. In a letter to Senate leadership and the leaders of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, Attorney General Bonta and the coalition warned that recent federal SNAP cuts — the largest reductions to food assistance in modern history — are increasing hunger, creating new bureaucratic hurdles for eligible families, and shifting billions of dollars in costs onto state and local governments. They emphasize that the Senate’s consideration of the next Farm Bill — the primary federal legislation governing national agricultural and nutrition policy — offers an opportunity to reaffirm a bipartisan commitment that no person in the United States should go hungry because they cannot afford food.

“No one should go hungry in the richest country in the world. Yet President Trump and Congressional Republicans cut SNAP benefits last year, making it harder for millions of low-income families to put food on the table,” said Attorney General Bonta. “As the Senate considers the upcoming Farm Bill, it should reverse these SNAP cuts. My fellow attorneys general and I took the Trump Administration to court when it tried to withhold SNAP benefits during the 2025 government shutdown, and we are once again fighting for those in need.”

SNAP provides critical support to more than 5 million Californians each month. New federal restrictions passed in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, including expanded work requirements and additional administrative hurdles, make it significantly harder for Californians to keep their benefits or threaten to push them off the program altogether. In the letter, Attorney General Bonta and the coalition argue that expanded work requirements and administrative hurdles do not create jobs or reduce poverty. Instead, they cause eligible families to lose assistance because they are unable to navigate increasingly complex bureaucratic requirements. 

The attorneys general also raise concerns about the impact of new SNAP changes on state economies. New cost-sharing provisions require states to shoulder billions of dollars in new costs while imposing substantial new administrative burdens, a significant shift from SNAP’s longstanding federal commitment to ensuring that Americans do not go hungry during times of need. In California alone, these changes could cost the State and counties more than $670 million annually beginning this year and another $2 billion annually starting next year. Attorney General Bonta and the coalition warn that these unprecedented shifts could force states to make impossible choices between cutting other essential services or reducing SNAP support for vulnerable residents.

Attorney General Bonta and the coalition urge the Senate to take a different approach from the House-passed Farm Bill, which fails to reverse recent cuts to food assistance. They call on the Senate to restore SNAP benefit levels and funding, reverse or delay new cost-sharing requirements, and roll back expanded work requirements and eligibility restrictions. They also urge the Senate to reject further benefit cuts, preserve state flexibility, and strengthen access to nutrition assistance for seniors, children, veterans, and working families. 

The letter was sent to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Chairman John Boozman, and Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Ranking Member Amy Klobuchar. Joining Attorney General Bonta in sending the letter, which was led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, are the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.