Nearly 65,000 Vermonters rely on SNAP benefits to feed their families
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee Subcommittee on Rural Development, Energy, and Credit, joined Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Senators Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), and John Fetterman (D-Pa.) for a spotlight forum entitled “Hunger by Design – The GOP’s Assault on SNAP.”
The Senators examined Republicans’ efforts to gut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), known as 3Squares in Vermont, which is a critical anti-hunger program that helps more than 41.6 million Americans—including over 65,000 Vermonters—put food on the table.
“In Vermont, and I’m sure this is true for my colleagues, I do not have people coming up to me saying ‘Peter, what are you doing to get my tax cut?’ They’re wondering about the SNAP benefits and meals for their family, they’re worried about health care. So, it’s a bad place we’re in and I’m glad that all of you are here helping us push back on this,” said Senator Welch.
In Vermont, nearly 9% of households experience food insecurity and 80,000 people face hunger, with almost 16,000 of them being children. Conservative estimates report that people facing hunger in Vermont need over $58 million per year to meet their needs. Instead, Republicans’ proposed budget would cut billions in food assistance for Vermonters facing food insecurity.
“There’s another aspect to this. There’s what happens to a person who’s depending on it, but then there’s what happens to the community. And this is true for Medicaid cuts as well as for SNAP benefits,” said Senator Welch. “You know, in Vermont, we had a discussion with all of our food shelf providers and farmers and [folks with] gardens—all those infrastructures have been built up with care over years. If that money gets taken away, then those organizations can’t stay in business. And it’s not as though a year from now, if things change, we just flip the switch and everything’s back in place.”
Watch Senator Welch’s full remarks below:
Last year, Vermonters enrolled in SNAP received an average of $184.48 per month, or $6.06 per day, in benefits. SNAP provides assistance to Vermonters from every walk of life, and last year SNAP beneficiaries in Vermont included: 57% of households with a person with a disability; 45% of households with older adults; 34% of households with children; and nearly 3,000 veterans.
SNAP is also vital to helping feed Vermont’s children. In 2024, SNAP provided benefits to over 20,000 children in Vermont and provided them with eligibility to receive school meals. In addition to boosting low wages, SNAP is an economic driver, providing vital food assistance to low-income Vermonters who are between jobs, have unpredictable schedules, or lack paid sick leave and other benefits. SNAP also provides a reliable revenue stream for small businesses, with 700 Vermont retailers redeeming over $135 million in benefits in 2023.
Senator Welch has been a leading advocate for protecting and expanding access to nutrition programs in the Senate. In May, Senator Welch hosted a press call with Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Oregon Governor Tina Kotek, and Hunger Free Vermont on Republicans’ efforts to gut SNAP. Senator Welch also recently joined Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) in introducing the Improving Access to Nutrition Act of 2025, legislation to help more Americans access SNAP by lifting Republicans’ punitive time limits on SNAP eligibility requirements.
Watch a livestream of the spotlight forum here.
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