Pensacola families are among more than half a million Floridians who have lost SNAP benefits, or food stamps, in less than a year since cuts by the federal government.
About 60,000 Escambia and Santa Rosa County residents depend on SNAP benefits to survive, United Way of West Florida has reported in the past. But the number who can receive them is continually dwindling.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says 553,046 Floridians have lost their food assistance from July 2025 to April of this year.
The figure nearly doubled since data in January showed 278,720 Floridians lost eligibility in the first six months after the federal cuts went into effect in July 2025, according to the progressive policy and research group based in Washington, D.C.
Florida’s enrollment stood at 2.8 million when the changes took effect in July 2025; as of April enrollment is just shy of 2.3 million.
SNAP stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and serves low-income families with children, seniors, and people with disabilities with eligibility based on income and household size.
The nonprofit policy institute uses enrollment data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers the federal dollars for SNAP.
Nationwide 4.5 million low-income people are no longer receiving the food assistance. That’s 11% out of roughly 40 million in the U.S. who were getting the help.
The 2025 federal bill that took effect in July last year, which President Donald Trump called the One Big Beautiful Bill, is cutting $186 billion over 10 years to SNAP.
It also imposes a work requirement for people aged 55 to 64 that didn’t exist before and is passing more program costs onto states.
The previous work requirement was for people up to age 54 but was expanded to individuals aged 55 through 64, and it requires parents of older children to work. It also eliminates work exemptions for some veterans and for people who are legal non-citizens.
The budget bill also shifts more program costs to states and will penalize states for their “error rates” on eligibility.
The latest figure of 4.5 million people who lost eligibility as of April is a jump from 3 million in January.
“(The law) dramatically expands SNAP’s already harsh and ineffective provision taking away people’s benefits for not meeting a work requirement,” according to a blog post from the budget and policy center.
What about Florida and eligibility?
To be eligible for SNAP in Florida, most households must have gross income of less than or equal to 200 percent of the federal poverty level. That is $5,360 a month for a family of four, according to the state Department of Children and Families. DCF administers the program at the state level.
Last year before the budget bill was enacted, 12.6% of Florida’s population was on SNAP, or 2.9 million Floridians, with an average monthly benefit of $182 per person.
Florida had work requirements for SNAP eligibility before the Big Beautiful Bill. People between 18 and 59 who were able-bodied adults without dependents had to comply or be in a training program.
Under the more expansive federal law, able bodied adults without dependents up to age 64 became subject to the work rules.
In addition, exemptions from the work requirement were eliminated for veterans, homeless and former youth aged 24 or younger.
What’s the error rate fallout with SNAP?
The USDA in June released data on “error rates” for each state’s accuracy for eligibility and benefit determinations against a national benchmark error rate of 10.62%.
For 2025, Florida’s error rate stood at 12.97%, down from 15.13% the year before.
Because of the state’s error rate, Florida faces paying an estimated $984 million in benefit costs in 2028-29 to maintain existing benefit levels, according to the Florida Policy Institute.
“We are now seeing the worst case scenario play out concerning a massive cost shift based on Florida’s newly released 2025 SNAP error rate,” Holly Bullard, with Florida Policy Institute, said in a statement.
America First Policy Institute Florida, with a mission to promote policies that puts Americans first, said the state needs to stay on track with reducing its error rate.
“Florida has made some progress in reducing its SNAP payment error rate, but the pace of that progress is insufficient,” Bob Rommel, chairman of the Florida chapter of AFPI, said in a statement.
Rommel was a former member of the Florida House representing parts of Collier County from 2016 to 2024.
The state must implement SNAP reforms that improve eligibility verification, strengthen oversight, and modernize program administration, he said.
“Protecting taxpayer dollars and ensuring that assistance reaches those who truly need it are complementary goals, not competing priorities,” Rommel said.
Liz Freeman is a health care reporter. Reach her by emailing lfreeman@naplesnews.com
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: More than 500,000 Floridians have lost SNAP benefits in last year
Reporting by Liz Freeman, USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida / Pensacola News Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Liz Freeman, USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida | USA TODAY Network
