Civil rights groups, lawmakers, and community advocates gathered Wednesday, Feb. 4, at Rand Chapel of Central Presbyterian Church across from the Georgia Capitol to urge legislators to fully fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, warning that looming federal cost shifts could deepen food insecurity for families across Georgia.
The press conference, titled “No Empty Plates: Affordability for Every Georgia Family,” was organized by the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, and a coalition of advocacy groups. Speakers said action is needed this legislative session as federal changes beginning in 2026 shift a greater share of SNAP administrative costs from the federal government to the states.
More than 1.3 million Georgians rely on SNAP to help cover food costs, according to advocates, including roughly 1.4 million residents statewide, nearly half of whom are children. Nationally, SNAP serves about 42 million people and has been shown to reduce food insecurity by as much as 30 percent, while improving long-term health and educational outcomes.
State Rep. Derrick Jackson said SNAP recipients are often working families struggling to keep up with inflation and rising grocery prices. He pointed to the federal government shutdown last fall as a warning sign of how quickly food insecurity can escalate.
“When that support wavered, the anxiety in our community was palpable,” Jackson said, noting that food pantries in Fulton and Fayette counties were stretched beyond capacity. “Our food banks are heroic, but they cannot do this work alone.”
Ife Finch, director of economic justice at the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, said changes under HR 1, a federal tax and spending law passed last summer, would increase Georgia’s share of SNAP administrative costs from 50 percent to 75 percent starting this fall. Without full funding, Finch warned, the state could face nearly $47 million in losses and risk hundreds of millions of dollars in future penalties tied to benefit payment errors.
“SNAP is the largest and most impactful anti-hunger program in the country,” Finch said. “If we fail to fund administration properly, families will feel the consequences first.”
Isabel Otero, policy director at the Southern Poverty Law Center, said families are being asked to absorb the consequences of political decisions they did not make.
“SNAP is how hundreds of thousands of our neighbors keep food on the table,” Otero said. “Too many families are being asked to carry the cost of choices they did not make and cannot afford.”
Lawmakers also emphasized SNAP’s importance to Georgia’s economy, particularly in rural areas. State Rep. Kim Schofield said SNAP usage is often higher outside metro Atlanta, with some rural counties seeing participation rates above 30 percent. She noted that SNAP supports local grocery stores and jobs, with billions of dollars flowing into Georgia’s economy through food purchases and related industries each year.
“This is not just an urban issue or a rural issue,” Schofield said. “It’s about keeping families fed and our local economies stable across the state.”
The advocacy event coincided with Physicians’ Day at the Capitol, an annual lobbying day organized by the Medical Association of Georgia. State Rep. Dr. Michelle Au, who attended the SNAP event after meeting with fellow physicians, said food access is inseparable from public health, noting that doctors routinely see the effects of food insecurity on children and families.
Love Dyre, a single mother raising two children with special needs, including a nonverbal son who requires full-time care, told the crowd that his limited diet and medical needs make grocery costs especially high, and that caregiving responsibilities prevent her from maintaining steady outside employment. Dyre said she now homeschools her children after traditional school settings did not meet her son’s needs, and that SNAP benefits have provided stability when other resources fall short.
“Sometimes it can be one o’clock in the morning, and I might need something for my son,” Dyre said. “The food pantry is not going to help me.”