NM Voices for Children
PRESS RELEASE
July 8, 2025 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Taeyin ChoGlueck, Chief Communications Officer, tchoglueck@nmvoices.org 


ALBUQUERQUE, NM—New Mexican children will be deeply hurt by the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA) that was signed into law on July 4th by President Trump. With the passage of the bill, approximately 35,000 New Mexico families with children will lose an average of $70 in food assistance per month, or $840 worth of assistance a year.

In the fiscal year of 2023 alone, SNAP, commonly known as “food stamps,” helped 166,548 New Mexican children to eat healthy, affordable meals. 93,000 New Mexicans would be at risk of losing all or some of SNAP due to new work requirements. New Mexico’s currently eligible immigrant families and mixed-status families will lose food assistance entirely. 

These new work requirements primarily target parents and other caretakers of children aged 14 and up, and adults aged 55 to 64. In two-parent households, both adults will have to work to remain eligible, which will cause some of our working families to scramble to find a child care service or long-term caretaker. 

“Cutting SNAP is about protecting the rich at the expense of working families,” said Gabrielle Uballez, Executive Director of NM Voices for Children. “No child should go hungry so billionaires can get more tax breaks. Hunger doesn’t stop at the dinner table. Hungry kids can’t learn, and that puts their future, and ours, at risk.”

The overall national cut to SNAP is approximately 20% by the end of 2034 – the largest cut to the program in history.  The program is proven to be one of the most effective anti-poverty tools for our state, and works in tandem with other food access and affordability initiatives – for one meal provided by a food pantry, SNAP provides nine. 

Starting 2027, New Mexico will also have to spend an estimated $153 million extra annually to cover SNAP benefits at the current level. Our state only has the capacity to cover this additional cost in the short term, so in the long term our state legislature might have to cut funding to other critical programs, or limit SNAP eligibility and force families off of benefits.