Since the summer of 2025, more than 167,000 Michiganders, over 53,000 of them children, have left SNAP, largely because of new work rules and red tape, BridgeDetroit reported, citing policy experts. Those rules arrived with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and its $187 billion SNAP reduction through 2034, and Tom Barrett's vote decided the bill's House passage on May 22, 2025, before he voted for the final law on July 3.
His yes also decided the February 2025 budget resolution that ordered the Agriculture Committee to find $230 billion, and the law that followed hands Michigan a bigger share of SNAP's bills: three-quarters of the administrative costs from October 2026 and, at the state's error rate, a benefit-cost share that could reach about $300 million in fiscal year 2028, by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities' estimate.
Tom Barrett's Votes That Cut SNAP for Michigan Families
- Michigan Families Lose Food Aid Under the Largest SNAP Cut Ever, Which Passed the House on Barrett's Deciding Vote in 2025. SNAP's overhaul got through the House with two yes votes from Tom Barrett: on May 22, 2025, when H.R. 1 passed 215 to 214 and a switch by him would have sunk it, and on July 3, 2025, when the final law cleared 218 to 214. "The megabill cuts SNAP by $187 billion or about 20 percent by 2034," the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities calculated, putting it beyond any cut the program had seen before, and the Congressional Budget Office projects that the broadened work rules, now covering people up to age 64, parents whose kids are 14 or older, veterans and the homeless, will "reduce participation in SNAP by roughly 2.4 million people in an average month."
- Michigan Picks Up More of SNAP's Cost After Barrett's Deciding Vote for a $230 Billion Budget Order, in February 2025. Barrett's February 25, 2025 yes was one of 217 that adopted H.Con.Res. 14 over 215 noes, so his switch alone would have forced the tie that defeats a resolution. Its order to the panel that writes SNAP law, the Agriculture Committee, was to "reduce the deficit by not less than $230,000,000,000". Barrett then cast yes votes on the rules for H.R. 1's floor debate in May and in July 2025. The law that followed, which Barrett voted for on July 3, moved SNAP's administrative costs onto the states, with the federal share dropping to 25 percent from fiscal year 2027, and, for the first time, a state share of benefit costs keyed to error rates. At Michigan's 9.89 percent error rate, the state could owe about $300 million in fiscal year 2028, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates.
Who Is Losing Food Assistance in Michigan Under the Law Tom Barrett Voted For
- 167,000 Michiganders, including 53,000 children, have dropped off SNAP since the summer of 2025. Children account for more than 53,000 of the 167,000-plus Michiganders who had left SNAP between the summer of 2025 and August 2026, BridgeDetroit reported in October 2026. At the Fish & Loaves pantry in Taylor, the chief executive told the outlet, people now call asking to meet their work requirements there.
- Michiganders aged 55 to 64 and parents whose youngest is 14 or older faced a risk of losing SNAP under the Senate panel's wider time limit, CBPP estimated in June 2025. CBPP estimated in June 2025, for the Senate Agriculture Committee's proposal with the same two time-limit expansions the final law made, that 39,000 Michiganders between 55 and 64 who have no children or disability were in danger, month to month, of having their food aid cut off, plus 35,000 parents whose children are all 14 or older. Missing the hours for three months is enough to cut off a household's grocery money.
Frequently Asked Questions About Tom Barrett on Food Assistance
What is Tom Barrett's record on food assistance under Trump?
On food assistance, Tom Barrett's record under Trump starts with two deciding votes, for the February 2025 budget resolution that ordered at least $230 billion from SNAP's committee and for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act's May passage, and continues with his July vote for a final law that the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities ranks as the biggest SNAP cut ever. More than 167,000 Michiganders have left SNAP since the summer of 2025.
Did Tom Barrett vote for the SNAP work requirements?
Yes. Tom Barrett's July 3, 2025 vote went to the law whose section 10102 rewrote SNAP's work rules: the three-month limit now runs to age 64, and parents are exempt only while they have a child under 14 at home. His May 22, 2025 vote was decisive for the House version that started it.
Did veterans and homeless Michiganders lose SNAP protections because of Tom Barrett's vote?
Yes. Under the law Tom Barrett voted for, veterans in Michigan, along with homeless residents and former foster youth, lost the exemption from SNAP's three-month time limit, so those among them with no child under 14 and no other exemption are now held to it. The Congressional Budget Office expects the change to shrink SNAP participation in those groups by a net 300,000 people nationally.
Last updated: 2026-10-27