Republican Tax Law's SNAP Cuts Hurt Arizona Students

TUCSON — The Republican Tax Law’s cuts to SNAP are triggering a food access crisis in Arizona that will soon be seen in other states, and it will likely impact students’ ability to receive free meals at school across the state.

In addition to the direct impact of losing SNAP access, many students may no longer be able to automatically receive free meals at school. 

The Republican Tax Law was enacted over a year ago with support from Congressman Juan Ciscomani. Since then, SNAP enrollment in Arizona has fallen by nearly half. Between July 2025 and August of this year alone, nearly 200,000 Arizona children have lost access to SNAP benefits.

According to Copper Courier:

“When a family loses SNAP, that automatic enrollment disappears, and federal money attached to those benefits—along with funding tied to the school’s count of low-income students—also disappears. 

Arizona’s SNAP caseload is down dramatically since the federal government made significant cuts to the program in July of last year. 

Effects of the change are already showing up in the state’s largest district. Within the Tucson Unified School District, the number of students directly certified for free meals through SNAP or Medicaid has fallen from 22,686 in April 2025 to 16,001 as of Sept. 15, 2026, according to Director of Food Services Lindsay Aguilar.

That’s a drop of nearly 6,700 students in about a year and a half. 

The reach of these numbers extends past the cafeteria. A school’s count of low-income students, measured in part through free and reduced-price meal eligibility, feeds into other funding streams. Title I, the largest federal program for schools serving low-income children, uses poverty data to determine allocations. The federal E-Rate program, which subsidizes school internet and technology, uses CEP data in its discount calculations.”

"The loss of SNAP is devastating for families and children, but it will also impact the schools that those families send their children to," said Andrea Moreno, Executive Director of Honest Arizona. "The crisis was predictable and unnecessary, and now Arizonans are paying the price.”

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