When the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) was signed into law in July 2025, it set in motion the most significant changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in a generation. More than a year later, those changes are no longer theoretical. Expanded paperwork requirements have already stripped exemptions from veterans, unhoused individuals, and former foster youth, while new state cost-share mandates are set to reshape how, and whether, states can sustain the program as federal funding recedes.

On this episode of Voices to End Hunger, host Minerva Delgado is joined by Karen Ehrens of the Alliance to End Hunger and Anna Grace Dastugue of the Tennessee Justice Center to unpack what has actually happened since OBBBA's signing, who is losing benefits and why, and what it all means for states and communities bracing for new administrative and financial burdens. Together they connect the national policy picture to the lived reality in Tennessee and beyond, giving advocates a clearer sense of what to watch for as implementation continues to unfold.

Host: Minerva Delgado, Alliance to End Hunger

Guests:

• Karen Ehrens, Alliance to End Hunger
• Anna Grace Dastugue, Tennessee Justice Center

Learn more about the Tennessee Justice Center at https://www.tnjustice.org/