Listen To This Story
Nebraska household participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, dropped about 11% between April 2025 and April 2026, according to Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services data. Food access advocates say the decline reflects policy changes rather than reduced need.
About 7,800 households – or 18,000 individuals – stopped participating over the past year. As new federal legislation went into effect in October and recertification for SNAP benefits was conducted, the number of participants steadily dropped.
Eric Savaiano, manager of Nebraska Appleseed’s food and nutrition program, attributes that drop in SNAP recipients to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed by Congress last July.
“We knew that the changes that [federal legislators] were making were intentionally designed to make SNAP smaller and reduce the population on SNAP – which will save them money but cause a lot more hardship,” Savaiano said.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which operates the SNAP program at a federal level, said the Trump administration is focused on “correcting mistakes, and rooting out waste, fraud and abuse so that federal dollars are used wisely.” Part of the justification for SNAP changes in the OBBBA was addressing alleged waste and fraud.
When asked about how decreased participation affected the cost and efficiency of administering SNAP benefits, Nebraska DHHS said the effect “is unknown at this time.”
The bill expanded SNAP work requirements and removed exemptions for some groups, like older recipients and people with dependents 14 and older.
“They've eliminated exemptions for people who are homeless and former foster youth and veterans, and that is simply going to create more challenges for people who already have barriers to get food,” Savaiano said.
Refugees were also barred from accessing benefits.
“Their stories are really heartbreaking. A lot of folks in the refugee community have lost access and are turning to emergency food pantries,” Savaiano said. “This is a problem for those refugees who are coming to America with some promise that they will have some support when they get started, and we've just pulled the rug out from under them.”
Savaiano said it’s also hard for refugee families to access culturally relevant foods – things they would have eaten in their home countries that they were familiar with cooking.
The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities tracked a nationwide dip in SNAP participation and found a 9% average decrease across all states from the OBBBA’s passage to February 2026. Arizona lost the most recipients, with a nearly 50% decrease.
“We expect the numbers to drop further in the coming months, as states more fully implement [the OBBBA’s] eligibility restrictions and as states grapple with cuts to administrative funding starting in October 2026 and the pressure to drive down their error rates before the end of this fiscal year,” Joseph Llobrera, senior director of research for CBPP wrote to Nebraska Public Media News.
Savaiano said food insecurity in Nebraska remains widespread, despite the drop in participation numbers.
“Everybody's seeing prices go up at grocery stores and gas stations, and everywhere in our country,” Savaiano said. “When we talk to people, they're most concerned about feeding their kids, not necessarily themselves, which is really telling.”
Savaiano said the government shutdown late last year, which temporarily paused the distribution of SNAP benefits, could have also made some “lose faith” in the program and not reapply. He said he hopes the federal legislation can be reversed, but for now, food banks and pantries are attempting to fill gaps.
“We do not believe that cutting people off when they still are in need is helpful for our communities,” Savaiano said. “We do believe that our tax dollars going toward making people safer and healthier and helping kids get the food that they need is important, and we don't think that charity can cover that.”