Enrollment in a federal food assistance program has dropped in Southeast Tennessee and across the state as fewer people qualify under stricter eligibility rules passed by Congress last summer. The trend is playing out across the country.
About 602,000 people in Tennessee received benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in June, 94,000 fewer than in July 2025, when Congress passed the Republicans’ massive tax and spending bill, according to data from the Tennessee Department of Human Services, which administers the federal program.
In Hamilton County, the number of people who received benefits from the program dropped 14.6%, from about 34,500 in July 2025 to 29,500 in June 2026. There have been comparable decreases in surrounding Southeast Tennessee counties.
The 13.6% drop across the state is likely due to several factors, including the expansion of work requirements and confusion or misunderstanding that resulted from those changes, according to Anna Grace Dastugue, the director of nutrition policy at the Tennessee Justice Center, a healthcare and anti-hunger advocacy group.
“When you make all of these changes quickly to SNAP, it’s exactly what happens at an extended family, rumors spread and people are confused and you have people that are self-selecting out of the program because they think they’re no longer eligible,” Dastugue said by phone.