In 2025, Republicans cut SNAP benefits for the entire country. Fortunately, New Mexico had a Democratic governor who fought for the 460,000 New Mexicans who receive food assistance. Governor Lujan Grisham applied $30,000,000 in state funds toward food assistance so that children would not go hungry.
When Republicans passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, they obeyed President Trump and slashed SNAP benefits to finance tax cuts for the rich. Republicans assured the American people that the “most vulnerable” and “neediest” of Americans would not lose their food benefits.
That’s not what happened.
By May 2026, the nonpartisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that 700,000 fewer children were receiving food assistance. ProPublica’s analysis showed that in the 12 states that keep food security data by age, the number of children receiving food assistance dropped by 776,000. Forty-six percent of the people no longer receiving food assistance were children. Close to half!
What It Means When Children Do Not Have Enough to Eat
Republicans harmed millions of poor Americans, and among the “most vulnerable,” children have suffered disproportionately. Growing minds and bodies need nourishment, and hunger affects children’s health, development, and well-being. It results in poor academic performance, increased health problems, and development difficulties. According to Mariana Chilton, quoted by ProPublica, childhood hunger can be compared to a childhood brain injury that affects the person for life.
U.S. Census Bureau data from 2024 shows that nearly 44 million Americans live in poverty. This figure includes ten million children. Fourteen million children in the United States live in “food insecure” homes, unsure when the next meal is coming.
State Democrats Help Locally
In Sandoval County, Feed Rio Rancho Kids, a nonpolitical initiative to help ensure food security for children, hosted by the Universalist Unitarian church in Rio Rancho, was founded by a few Democrats and is partly supported by individuals from the Democratic Party of Sandoval County (that’s us!). As for food banks, Roadrunner Food Bank and The Storehouse NM are located in Albuquerque; Storehouse West, Inc., is located in Rio Rancho.
References
- https://www.propublica.org/article/snap-benefits-children-food-stamps
- https://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/child-hunger-facts
- https://www.nokidhungry.org/who-we-are/hunger-facts
- https://www.governor.state.nm.us/2025/10/29/governor-announces-30-million-to-feed-new-mexicans-460000-new-mexicans-set-to-lose-federal-snap-benefits-nov-1/
- See related post on Feed Rio Rancho Kids: https://www.sandovaldemocrats.org/the-paper-interviews-greg-bennett-on-blue-rio-rancho-and-feed-rio-rancho-kids/