Across Missouri and Kansas, nearly 1 million people have been left without food assistance in November, as the government shutdown drags on and benefits were held in limbo.
After weeks of uncertainty, Kansas released full SNAP benefits to residents on Friday, while Missouri plans to release benefits — either full or partial payments — later this week.
The release of SNAP benefits for the month of November comes amid ongoing court battles playing out between President Donald Trump's administration and some states, which sued the federal government to get benefits paid out.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the food stamp program, told states like Kansas that paid out full benefits that doing so was "unauthorized" and that they needed to recover the payments made out to residents.
The Trump administration appealed a federal judge's order to pay out full benefits, and the status of what states must pay — or if they will be forced to claw back SNAP dollars already paid out — remained uncertain as of Monday evening.
Rapidly evolving events sowed chaos as states tried to figure out how to distribute partial payments during the first week of the month.
"While Missouri has never done this before, DSS is working diligently to process programming changes and testing in order to move forward with issuing the partial SNAP benefits," Missouri Department of Social Services spokesperson Baylee Watts said in a Nov. 5 statement. "Because of that, there are still a lot of moving pieces. Once testing is complete, DSS will work closely with our EBT vendor to issue benefits promptly."
But amid confusion about how much money SNAP recipients will get — and when — changes to the program passed as part of President Donald Trump's budget bill are imminent for those enrolled in Missouri and Kansas.
What Nov. 1 meant for SNAP in Missouri and Kansas
Trump's budget bill, which included tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, made a number of changes to the SNAP program, including who can receive benefits and how much states have to pay to be part of the program.
The largest change from the bill included expanding work requirements. In order to receive benefits, most enrollees will be required to show proof of 80 hours a month of work, school, caregiving or volunteering, unless you have a reason to be exempt from these requirements.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated that 2.7 million Americans who currently use SNAP to afford food will be unable to rely on the program under the new requirements. All told, 41.2 million Americans receive SNAP assistance.
Missourians and Kansans will have some time to adapt to these changes. Those subject to the work requirements can only receive three months of benefits over a three-year period unless they show proof of work.
Broadly, SNAP recipients who may be impacted by this change include:
- Able-bodied adults aged 18-64: Previously, only able-bodied adults aged 18-54 were required to show proof of work. Now, those aged 54-64 will need to show proof of work, school, volunteering or caregiving to be eligible for SNAP beyond three months in a three-year period.
- Veterans, people experiencing homelessness and youth aging out of foster care: These groups were previously exempted from work requirements. Now, they will need to show proof of work.
- Caregivers of children aged 14-18: Previously, caregivers of children up to 18 years old were exempt from work requirements. Now, exemptions apply to those with children 14 years old and younger.
The budget law also removed eligibility for certain refugees and asylum seekers. Previously, refugees, those granted asylum and certain Afghan and Ukrainian nationals were immediately eligible for benefits.
In Missouri, about 14,000 adults aged 55-64 who don't have children or don't have a disability are at risk of losing their benefits. In Kansas, the change will impact about 5,000 adults, according to an analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
And about 20,000 Missouri adults with children 14 and older and have no disability will have their benefits at risk. In Kansas, the change is expected to impact about 4,000 adults.
For adults aged 50 and older, the average SNAP recipient gets about $7 a day, or around $200 a month, for spending on food, according to the AARP.
"In this now newly older adult population who aged out of the workforce, it's very hard at age 62 to jump into a new career and get hired and trained up," said Lucas Caldwell-McMillan, the chief of policy staff at Empower Missouri. "And I think the same thing that took away this exemption for veterans — there are lots of programs to help veterans, but still not enough."
Between confusion over what payments are going out to SNAP households this month and handling the new work requirements, states are left with more questions than answers on how to handle the program for November.
"We don't have the normal types of detailed responses from the USDA that we were expecting, at this point," said Diane Schanzenbach, an economist and expert in public policy at Georgetown University. "And I think that the shutdown has only made that worse."
But because of the three-month period for recipients to show their proof of work, school, volunteering or caregiving, the bigger cliff could be coming in the months ahead, Schanzenbach said.
The uncertainty comes with more pressure on the state, too. Part of the new budget law will require states to take on some of the cost to administer the program. And if states do a poor job of screening applicants or recertifying SNAP recipients, they'll have to pay a higher portion of that cost in the years to come.
Who is on SNAP in Missouri and Kansas?
In Missouri, more than 650,000 residents, or about 11% of the state's population, receive some form of SNAP benefits, according to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.
More than 68% of SNAP participants are families with children, 6% higher than the national average, and 38% are in working families.
The average monthly benefit for households with children in 2022 was $569, while the average benefit for working households was $463.
In 2023, 12.7% of Missouri households were classified as "food insecure," meaning their access to adequate food is limited by money and other resources.
In Kansas, about 187,000 residents, or 6% of the state's population, receive some form of SNAP benefits.
More than 65% of SNAP participants are in families with children, while more than 44% are in working families.
In 2022, the average monthly benefit for Kansas households with children was $538, while the average monthly benefit for working homes was $446.
In 2023, about 10.6% of Kansas households were classified as "food insecure."
This story was originally published by The Beacon, a fellow member of the KC Media Collective.
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