#HealthEquity & Economic Sec Strategist | Formerly @ahahospitals @WomenEmployed @theOunce @CLASP_DC @CenteronBudget @YoungInvincible | @HarrisPolicy @GUAlumni
Chicago Illinois
Joined March 2009
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Elizabeth Kenefick retweeted
The Trump Administration has apparently renamed the federal agency overseeing federal nutrition programs like SNAP, WIC, and school meals. (Certainly wouldn't want to imply that you might get any food and nutrition service!)
ALT Screenshot of the USDA website: "Notice: As of June 1, 2026 the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is now officially the Food and Nutrition Administration (FNA). We are in the process of updating our website to reflect this change."
Elizabeth Kenefick retweeted
Can't be stated enough that *eligible* low-income Arizonans are losing their SNAP benefits.
They just can't get through the process to demonstrate their eligibility because Arizona's response to federal SNAP cuts is pushing its understaffed state agency to its breaking point.
Former SNAP beneficiaries cut from the program say the state is making it impossible to prove they’re still eligible. State blames Trump. GOP blames fraud (and @GovernorHobbs ). Food banks say they can't fill the gap kjzz.org/politics/2026-05-27…
Elizabeth Kenefick retweeted
Arizona just posted data for April. The number of children receiving SNAP in Arizona has now fallen by 55% since H.R. 1 became law last summer — not because their families no longer needed help affording groceries, but because of how the state is responding to these federal cuts.
Under President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” food stamp applicants are fighting to prove eligibility and facing questions about birthday gifts sent over Zelle. A crisis in Arizona offers a warning for America. nbcnews.com/news/us-news/tru…
Elizabeth Kenefick retweeted
The farm bill scheduled for a House floor vote this week does nothing to address this unfolding crisis — and could make it worse by providing sweeping authority for states to outsource core SNAP eligibility functions to private companies with minimal oversight.
New USDA data released today: H.R. 1 enacted the deepest SNAP cuts in history last July. By January, more than 3 million fewer people were receiving food assistance. Nationwide, SNAP caseloads fell by more than 8% in just 6 months — despite no improvement in economic conditions.
ALT Change in SNAP participation between January 2024 and January 2026, showing a sharp decline after H.R. 1 enactment in July 2025.
Elizabeth Kenefick retweeted
In July, Trump enacted the largest cuts to food assistance in US history.
Then he indefinitely cancelled the survey that measures hunger in America.
Meanwhile, official data show the number of people who receive food assistance in America plummeting.
Elizabeth Kenefick retweeted
New USDA data released today: H.R. 1 enacted the deepest SNAP cuts in history last July. By January, more than 3 million fewer people were receiving food assistance. Nationwide, SNAP caseloads fell by more than 8% in just 6 months — despite no improvement in economic conditions.
ALT Change in SNAP participation between January 2024 and January 2026, showing a sharp decline after H.R. 1 enactment in July 2025.
Elizabeth Kenefick retweeted
Great new stat from @SenateBudget: of the $140 billion that Trump & Republicans gave ICE & CBP in the Big Beautiful Bill, $103 billion is still unobligated as of the end of March.
Now they’re asking for another $70 billion even though about 75% of the OBBBA money remains unused.
Elizabeth Kenefick retweeted
"Let Freedom Ring!", an annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration hosted by Georgetown's MLK Initiative, will not perform on the Kennedy Center stage this year for the first time in the program's 23-year history. Read more: georgetownvoice.com/2026/01/…
Elizabeth Kenefick retweeted
Officials on the frontlines of SNAP benefits administration are warning Congress about a little-known legislative provision with a huge impact on state budget. State and county leaders detailed the impacts in a congressional briefing yesterday. Learn more: nga.org/advocacy-communicati…
Elizabeth Kenefick retweeted
Worth mentioning: USDA's position is that these SNAP eligibility restrictions were effective the day the law was enacted, July 4. But USDA didn't issue any implementation guidance until October 31. They didn't clarify aspects of that initial guidance until *this week.*
The harmful Republican megabill cuts health coverage, food assistance, and tax credits for immigrants with lawful status and their families, narrowing eligibility for programs such as the #ChildTaxCredit, #SNAP, #Medicaid, and #ACA marketplace coverage. cbpp.org/research/immigratio…
Elizabeth Kenefick retweeted
"With the largest cuts in the program’s history looming, states should reject SNAP food restrictions & focus on reducing hardship amid slashed funding & eligibility rollbacks—not compound burdens by making it more complicated to use this critical program." cbpp.org/blog/limiting-food-…
🎉 Six more states are Making America Healthy Again by removing unhealthy foods from SNAP!
1⃣ Hawai'i
2⃣ Missouri
3⃣ North Dakota
4⃣ South Carolina
5⃣ Virginia
6⃣ Tennessee
🔗 usda.gov/about-usda/news/pre…
Elizabeth Kenefick retweeted
I don't think the public has fully grasped that the Republican megabill means that SNAP could end altogether in some states - or the extent to which the Administration is setting states up to fail, spiking the costs they'll face & making deep cuts to food assistance more likely.
New: The recent government shutdown, with families skipping meals and babies unfed, could have been a preview of what’s to come when Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill shifts billions in costs for the SNAP program to states that may not be able to afford them. propub.li/4s0kb2a
Elizabeth Kenefick retweeted
NEW: Last week marked the 17th anniversary of Chicago selling 36,000 parking meters to private investors for 75 years in exchange for $1.15B in cash.
The parking meters have since generated $2B for the investors, with 58 years still left on the lease.
It is the most infamous political tale in modern Chicago history. And the one thing Chicagoans of all political stripes agree on: they hate it.
Yet despite all the attention, Chicago learned the wrong lessons from the parking meter deal.
In this week's edition of The Last Ward, we learn how to hate it for the right reasons ⬇️
thelastward.org/p/how-to-hat…
Elizabeth Kenefick retweeted
USDA publishes extensive data about SNAP. The entire Quality Control dataset is publicly available! There’s no need to aggregate the highly sensitive personal information of tens of millions of people in a centralized database & put it at risk of unauthorized use or disclosure.
American taxpayers deserve to know how their food stamp dollars are being spent.
apnews.com/article/food-aid-…
Elizabeth Kenefick retweeted
Monthly SNAP costs when Joe Biden became President in January 2021: $8.68 billion.
Monthly SNAP costs when his term ended in January 2025: $7.97 billion.
I don't think you need to whip out a calculator to figure out that's not a 40% increase.
Elizabeth Kenefick retweeted
There's no "opportunity" created by work requirements. Research consistently shows that they don't increase employment or earnings. They just create huge amounts of red tape that cuts people off SNAP & leaves them worse off — including people who are working or should be exempt.
The One Big Beautiful Bill promotes opportunity in SNAP with modest work requirements that kick in after 3 months of participation, and enjoys broad public support.
apnews.com/article/snap-food…
Elizabeth Kenefick retweeted
Do Congressional Republicans know that the megabill they passed this summer cuts the federal match for states’ costs to transition to more secure SNAP payment methods *in half* starting next year?
Some Republicans in Congress are weighing how to fix #SNAP benefits “skimming,” which can cost hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars, and are open to legislation addressing it.
politico.com/newsletters/wee…
Elizabeth Kenefick retweeted
By moving to rescind the Biden Admin’s #PublicCharge rule, which largely restored long-standing policy after courts blocked a harmful rule put forward in the first Trump rule, the Administration is reigniting fear & confusion among people who are immigrants and their families.
Elizabeth Kenefick retweeted
Aside from the fact that SNAP participants already have to periodically recertify for benefits — usually every 6 or 12 months — SNAP rules also prohibit states from arbitrarily shortening a household's certification period to force them to reapply early.
New: The Trump administration will require SNAP participants to reapply for benefits in an effort to crack down on "fraud"
Not yet clear how this differs from current requirements to recertify personal info
politico.com/news/2025/11/14…
Elizabeth Kenefick retweeted
Food assistance for low-income veterans isn't only at risk because of the shutdown. The Republican megabill's SNAP cuts specifically targeted veterans by eliminating their previous exemption from SNAP's harsh three-month time limit.
