The views expressed here are personal and not those of the University of Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR). 

In February, Representative Juan Ciscomani said he opposed SNAP and Medicaid cuts. Yet on May 22, he voted for them in the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act– a title possibly sourced from a preschool focus group. Joining him were Representatives Biggs, Crane, Gosar and Hamadeh. 

If Schoolhouse Rock! were remade today, “I’m Just a Bill” would be zip-tied to a billionaire singing a jaunty tune about “personal responsibility” while slashing SNAP, Medicaid, and other lifelines for low-income families. The House bill includes many devastating provisions, leaving us no time to trip over its extra comma on our way to salvage what’s left of the safety net. The Senate version cuts Medicaid even more aggressively, taking square aim at low-income families and children.

The federal government’s synchronized gutting of safety net programs is cutting off nearly every point of access to basic needs. The White House and Congress have targeted many safety net programs, including:

• SNAP
• Medicaid
• The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), which provides food and funding to food pantries
• Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA), which funded pantries to purchase food from local farmers,
• Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program, which funded schools and childcare facilities to purchase food from local farmers
• Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program 
• National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program
• Social Services Block Grants, and 
• Key staff at USDA and HHS

The Congressional Budget Office and others estimated that the bill would reduce the after-tax income of families in the bottom 10-20% of earners. What happens when those families lose access to SNAP, Medicaid, and school meals? They may turn to a food pantry, only to find empty shelves because TEFAP and LFPA, which provide most pantry food, have also been cut. The administration’s unsparing chainsaw has already obliterated grant-funded community programs that filled the gaps when earnings and public programs fell short. 

The bill hacks $290 billion from SNAP, cutting benefits for over 40 million Americans, mostly households with children, older adults and people with disabilities. 

Other harmful provisions include: 

• Work requirements for SNAP and Medicaid participants 
• Changes to SNAP’s administrative funding
• Elimination of the Community Eligibility Provision, which allows high-poverty school districts to offer meals to all students
• Elimination of SNAP-Ed, an evidence-based community nutrition program

SNAP work requirements may sound reasonable, but research shows they don’t increase employment or wages. They ignore the harsh realities of precarious, low-wage work in our economy and penalize people who can’t get enough hours, are temporarily out of work, or face other barriers. These rules would reduce or strip benefits from an estimated 5.4 million people, including veterans, people experiencing homelessness and youth aging out of foster care.

Work requirements would also create more red tape, hassle and errors, making it harder for eligible people to apply or stay enrolled. Ample evidence shows that work requirements may reduce participation, but not poverty. In fact, they increase deep, persistent poverty, especially for single mothers. 

Arizona would face $28.1 million in increased SNAP administrative costs, right when rising food and housing costs, flat wages and job loss are pushing more families into deprivation. These costs will strain the state’s capacity to serve this anticipated spike in need.

The bill would also eliminate the Community Eligibility Provision, which has substantially reduced administrative costs and increased school meals participation in recent years. Its elimination would impact nearly 150,000 Arizona children currently receiving school meals, hurting schools and families by increasing paperwork and reducing access. 

If that weren’t enough, the bill eliminates SNAP-Ed, a program that helps families eat healthfully on tight budgets and strengthens food environments through local partnerships. These programs help reduce healthcare costs, improve diets, reduce hunger and build healthier communities. 

Together, the bill and the broader effort to dismantle public services will deepen hunger and hardship for millions and hurt not just families, but also farmers, already strained by tariffs and food aid cuts, grocers, farmers markets and the entire food economy. 

Hunger, especially child hunger, is a moral failure. But this bill treats hunger like a policy goal. In its attempt to demolish the government and wear down our compassion for our neighbors, it tries to convince us that only the wealthy deserve to eat. 

Dr. Stephanie Grutzmacher is an Associate Professor in the School of Nutritional Sciences, University of Arizona. 

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