U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins defended the Trump administration’s cuts to federal food assistance at a Marana farm Thursday.
Arizona has seen the largest drop in SNAP participation, with nearly half a million fewer people enrolled compared to July, when Trump’s spending cuts passed.
Rollins claims there was fraudulent and unaccountable spending within the program.
"That’s not fair to the hardworking men and women standing behind me who pay taxes," Rollins said.
Jessie Gruner with Pinnacle Prevention, a nonprofit that addresses food insecurity, says people have been losing access to benefits, even when they’ve met new requirements.
"It’s really challenging. Especially someone that’s even in their 70s and 80s that wouldn't be subject to the new work requirements. And we still see some of those individuals falling off," Gruner said.
Arizona Gov. Hobbs recently vetoed a budget proposal from the Legislature that she said would have led to more people losing their SNAP benefits.
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New federal data shows grocery and convenience stores have lost jobs and wages across the country, but especially in Arizona. -
That's especially true in the Mountain West. In most states, if one delivery unit shuts down, the next closest one is more than an hour away. -
More than 30,000 refugees, asylees and other legally present immigrants in Arizona could lose health coverage in a few weeks as new Medicaid eligibility rules take effect. -
Under the proposed changes, there’d be a cap on how much money Head Start centers could spend on administrative overhead; there would also be a reduction in the number of regulations governing the program, among other changes. -
Right now, nearly Arizona 300 schools qualify for a federal program that allows schools that serve low income households to give free lunches to every student — without making them apply for it.
