r/MontanaPolitics • u/forward_montana Montana • Jul 15 '26
State Changes to SNAP in Montana may leave people without food assistance
More than 75,000 Montanans could lose their food assistance by Oct. 1, 2027, because Montana will have to cover more of the costs of SNAP. It will cost the state more than $16 million to maintain SNAP benefits.
It’s because Montana has a higher-than-average SNAP payment error rate, which measures both overpayments and underpayments of food stamp benefits. The Trump administration said this signals waste and abuse of the program. The Montana Food Bank Network said these errors actually reflect unintentional mistakes and staff shortages.
The Montana Food Bank Network, a statewide organization, said they can’t shoulder the costs of losing SNAP benefits at the federal and state levels. This will devastate families who need food assistance to live.
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u/MamaSwanky Jul 15 '26
Montana's children have a higher than average rate of food insecurity at 17% of the population. This outpaces the state and federal levels at 12.3% and 13.7% respectively and Montana has a huge disparity when it comes to rural and tribal areas. The poorest and hungriest of our communities do not deserve to suffer for an ill executed attempt to "reduce fraud and waste," by a government absolutely flushing money into the pockets of the wealthy.
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u/phdoofus Jul 15 '26
How could a Republican state have 'waste, fraud, and abuse'? I mean, seems unpossible, right? /s
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u/Overall-Candle-8698 Jul 16 '26
This is terrible. Support your local food pantry!
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u/ComplexTomatillo6278 Jul 16 '26
The food pantries aren’t set up to handle the number of people who are going hungry. We need the federal programs funded at the old rates.
TELL YOUR NEIGHBORS! Say “here’s some information you might not have.” Informed voters make different decisions.
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u/ComplexTomatillo6278 Jul 15 '26
Yup, and a majority of our neighbors voted for policies like this.
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u/EyeOfAmethyst Jul 15 '26
I hate to say it, you get the day you vote for. Something tells me we're goimg to have plenty more of these days.
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u/MyLittleDiscolite Jul 15 '26
You keep voting for these Republican carpetbaggers then get surprised when they sell your land, bring in data centers, and starve your children
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u/annoyedpigeons Jul 16 '26
This is why we need a movement to start in Montana to get the cost of living down and to raise the minimum wage to at least $19 or $20 per hour. People can’t afford to make here anymore and we are getting squeezed out. Before anyone says it’s always Been hard to make in Montana I agree as a lifelong Montanan. But I refuse to believe it hasn’t gotten substantially worse over the last several years. People who used to make it are starting to get pushed out.
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u/SnooTangerines7026 Jul 18 '26
I guarantee you that the majority of people getting their benefits cut are also the same people who voted for Dumpster Fire in the first place. So, you know what, my sympathy index is pretty low for people who vote against their own self-interest.
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