As a result of federal legislation, the number of Arizonans receiving SNAP benefits, also known as welfare or food stamps, declined over 41% since summer of last year. This was due to H.R. 1, The One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025, which was signed into law by President Trump on July 4, 2025. It expanded work requirements, reduced eligibility for non-citizens and increased the frequency of state eligibility verifications.
Able-bodied adults without children are now removed from the program after three months if they don’t work or receive training for at least 80 hours per month. The Arizona Department of Economic Security said those individuals made up about half of those who were eliminated from the program.
HR 1 also removed immediate eligibility for certain refugees, asylees, trafficking victims and others who were previously exempt from waiting periods. According to data from the USDA, 35,000 noncitizens in Arizona received SNAP benefits in 2024. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that 12% of Arizona’s population received SNAP recipients that year, for a total of over $2 billion.
Arizona’s SNAP program had an overpayment record of 22.50%, the USDA reported last July. Additionally, thousands of victims lost over $1.2 million in benefits due to benefit theft such as skimming or unauthorized EBT charges. One way the fraud takes place is welfare recipients sell their debit cards to others for cash, which is often spent on illegal drugs.
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