More than 300,000 Illinois residents are expected to lose Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, food benefits because of new work requirements and additional administrative requirements under last year's One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
A new report from the Center for American Progress says the changes could also affect access to free school meals.
"Students who are enrolled in SNAP and Medicaid can be directly certified for free school meals," said the report's co-author, Paige Shoemaker Demio. "Basically, a box is checked that says they are in SNAP. They automatically get free meals. They don't have to go through a household application process, which can have a lot of barriers."
If a family loses SNAP benefits, its children would no longer be directly certified.
Students can qualify for free meals in several ways, including through the Community Eligibility Provision. If more than 25% of a school's students are directly certified through SNAP, the entire school qualifies for free meals. But if families lose SNAP benefits, Shoemaker Demio said schools could lose eligibility for the program.
She said last year's law shifts many SNAP costs to states, so if state budgets become tight, officials may further restrict eligibility.
The report also estimates how much it would cost an Illinois family with two children to pay for school lunches. With a median lunch price of $3.25, the annual cost would total about $1,170.
"The average length of the school year is 180 school days," Shoemaker Demio said. "So $3.25 times 180 school days times two kids is how we arrive at that $1,170 per year."
She said more than 1 million Illinois students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, and researchers expect SNAP reductions to lower participation in free school meal programs during the upcoming school year.
Last year's One Big Bill Beautiful Bill Act also eliminated the SNAP-ED program, which provided nutrition education to more than 1 million students nationwide.
Copy Edited by Eryn Lent
