July 03, 2025
Richard B. Levine/Sipa USA
The number of Philadelphia residents facing food insecurity is expected to grow with the passage of President Donald Trump's domestic policy bill that slashes SNAP benefits.
More than 40,000 of Philadelphia's poorest residents – enough people to fill Citizen's Bank Park – are set to lose food benefits under President Donald Trump's newly-passed domestic policy bill.
House Republicans passed the bill Thursday after a record-breaking floor speech by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries that lasted 8 hours and 45 minutes. The bill, which passed the Senate on Monday, slashes Medicaid, clean energy programs and food assistance for millions of Americans. It will cut federal money for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, by about $290 billion over 10 years.
The bill makes it harder for people to qualify for SNAP benefits and cuts benefits for people who are eligible, according to the New York Times. It requires most people to work until they are 64 to qualify; people currently only need to work until 54. The new bill also requires states to pick up some of the costs of the benefits. Currently, the federal government pays those costs completely, with states covering the expense of managing the program.
"We are seeing this Independence Day heist as the biggest reduction of resources to communities that need it the most in modern history, and this is at a time when we are giving huge tax breaks to billionaires," said George Matysik, executive director of Share Food Program, a large hunger-relief program based in Philadelphia. "It's incredibly unfortunate and disheartening that Congress and the President have made this very real choice to target the poorest in our society for these (tax) cuts."
Approximately 2 million Pennsylvania residents depend on SNAP to buy groceries for their families. The state will now need to find at least $125 million to keep the program going, according to Spotlight PA.
"Pennsylvania can't backfill those cuts … There's a real question as to whether or not we will be able to operate SNAP any longer," Gov. Josh Shapiro said at a recent press conference.
According to Shapiro's office, more than 55,000 people who live in the five Congressional Districts that cover Southeastern Pennsylvania would lose SNAP benefits. That includes 42,756 people in Philadelphia.
In New Jersey, about 800,000 residents use SNAP benefits each month.
Monthly SNAP benefits go to an average of 42 million Americans, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which runs the program. The cuts to SNAP benefits come at a time when grocery prices are spiking and food insecurity has been rising across the country.
"The vast majority of SNAP families have kids under 18 at home," Matysik said. "One in 3 kids in the city of Philadelphia is living below the poverty level right now. So this is really, above all, an attack on poor children."
Share Food Program has lost $8.5 million in funding that came either directly from the federal government or through federal grants distributed by the state. It also has seen a 120% increase in the number of people seeking help through the program since pandemic relief programs ended in 2022, Matysik said.
Share Food Program partners with community-based organizations and school districts to distribute food to people facing food insecurity, 50% of whom are children and seniors. The nonprofit coordinates efforts with government entities and partners with wholesalers, farms, restaurants and food drives. It also relies on donations. The program distributed more than $30 million meals to individuals, families and food pantries in 2024.
Food insecurity has spiked 65% since the height of COVID-19 in 2020, rising from about 650,000 to nearly 1.1 million residents facing food insecurity, according to the leaders of five New Jersey food banks who wrote a May 20 op-ed for NJ Spotlight News.
