AZ Center

Data shows DES failed to complete most SNAP eligibility interviews, resulting in massive cuts

Joseph Palomino, director of the Arizona Center for Economic Progress, said the data underscores the agency’s previous claims that DES is understaffed and underfunded by the state.

“There are two problems converging on DES to drive the decline in SNAP participation. First, new provisions in H.R. 1 have added bureaucratic red tape, making it harder for families to get and keep the benefits they qualify for. Second, an already underfunded state agency — both in staffing and technology — is being asked to administer these changes while facing severe financial penalties if it falls short,” Palomino said in an email.

The result, Palomino says, is cutting eligible people from SNAP.

“These declines are not evidence of waste, fraud or abuse. They show what happens when we fail to make adequate public investments,” he said. “Whether it’s administering a safety-net program like SNAP, maintaining our water infrastructure or funding our schools, underinvestment ultimately hurts Arizona families — and it hurts Arizona’s economy.”

Federal cuts threaten free school lunch provision that serves 145,000 Arizona kids

Arizona has seen record numbers of people removed from the SNAP rolls. And there has been pressure from Congressional Republicans to raise the threshold for schools to qualify for those universal free lunches.

David Lujan is executive director of Children's Action Alliance and the Arizona Center for Economic Progress, which crunched the numbers on this.

The Show spoke with him more about it.

Andy Biggs pledges to repeal Arizona income tax. How would he cover the $6 billion hole?

“It's not a plan. It's really just a tax shift to everyday Arizonans,” said David Lujan, executive director of the Arizona Center for Economic Progress and Childrens’ Action Alliance.

Lujan is a former Democratic lawmaker who served alongside Biggs in the Legislature. 

“You're going to have to fill that gap someplace,” he said.

“It’s either going to come from cuts to schools and public safety or you're going to have to shift the tax cut to somewhere else, and it's most likely going to be an increase in the sales tax.”

Alabama lawmakers should learn from Arizona’s SNAP crisis

Arizona has issued $600 million less in SNAP benefits since July 2025, even as food bank traffic surges.

Alabama should take notice. Arizona shows what can happen when sweeping federal changes collide with an underfunded, overburdened system.

About 1 in 8 Alabamians — roughly 650,000 — use SNAP to help keep food on the table. 

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North Carolina still has time to avoid Arizona’s food stamps crisis

Since Congress enacted H.R. 1 last summer, nearly 440,000 Arizonans have lost SNAP assistance — roughly half of all participants. Over 180,000 are children. The decline far exceeds estimates of those directly affected by new eligibility restrictions, suggesting many eligible people are being caught in a system struggling with complicated rules and pressure to reduce errors and future costs. Arizona has issued $600 million less in SNAP benefits since July 2025, even as food bank traffic surges.

North Carolina should take notice. Arizona shows what can happen when sweeping federal changes collide with an underfunded, overburdened system.

Nearly 1.3 million North Carolinians rely on SNAP. Beginning Oct. 1, the federal government will cut its share of SNAP administrative costs from 50% to 25%. State budget writers in North Carolina decided to push those costs onto local governments after local budget deadlines passed.

Counties are expected to face $52 million in new administrative costs in the first year and going forward to operate SNAP. That does not include the staffing, technology and training required by expanded work-reporting and verification rules. Counties cannot absorb these costs without consequences. They may have to reduce services, cut staff or raise taxes and fees. Smaller and rural counties, often with fewer resources and more residents relying on SNAP, face especially difficult choices. Without state funding, counties will struggle to answer calls, process applications and resolve paperwork problems. Families may wait longer or lose benefits because a document was not processed in time. That is how a fiscal cost shift becomes a hunger crisis.

Arizona faces potential $208M penalty over food stamp errors

The Arizona Center for Economic Progress, which lobbies to put more dollars into public programs, says that the error rate is not necessarily related to fraud or cheating.

“These errors can include cases in which an eligible family received slightly too much or too little assistance because of a processing delay, a mistake by an eligibility worker, incomplete information, or problems with a computer system,” the organization said in a press release June 24.

It also warns that even if Arizona does escape federal penalties, what’s in HR 1 will still result in higher costs for the state. That’s because federal law also shifts more of the responsibility of administering the food stamp program to states, regardless of the error rates.

Millions lose food stamps under Trump cuts. Arizona is hardest hit

Fourteen of Arizona's 15 counties are now subject to work requirements, compared to just one last year, said Joseph Palomino, director of the Arizona Center for Economic Progress.

Those changes, as well as the new demands for documentation, are making it harder for people to get timely access to benefits, he said, and they’re “falling through the cracks."

With new state budget, Arizona workers won’t have to pay taxes on tips

The Arizona Center for Economic Progress, a nonpartisan advocacy group, cautions that this short-term relief through $1.4 billion in tax cuts over the next several years could prove costly over time and reduce the tax revenue available to invest in state priorities.

“Arizona has lost nearly $11 billion to tax cuts over the past 30 years, while the state’s tax system remains one of the most regressive in the nation,” the group shared on Friday after the budget’s approval. “The state cannot keep cutting the revenue needed to fully fund child care, public K-12 education, health care, housing, water, and food assistance and still expect to build a strong, competitive economy."

Grijalva fights to restore SNAP for 473K Arizonans

"Arizona has become the clearest warning sign of what happens when federal policymakers shift costs and complexity onto states instead of protecting families' access to food," said Joseph Palomino, director of the Arizona Center for Economic Progress. "Nearly half a million Arizonans — including more than 205,000 children — have already lost SNAP, not because they stopped needing help, but because a harmful policy is making it harder for eligible families to stay connected to the assistance they need."

Arizona food stamp rolls drop by nearly 50%

So far, 473,793 Arizona resident have lost food stamp benefits, including 205,223 children, according Department of Economic Security data.

“Every new update tells the same troubling story: More Arizona families are losing access to basic food assistance at the same time they are being squeezed by rising costs,” said Joseph Palomino, director of the Arizona Center for Economic Progress. “SNAP is not just a line item in a budget. It is food for children, stability for families, and dollars flowing into local communities.”

“These losses should be a wake-up call for lawmakers,” Palomino said. “Arizona families need policies that help them stay stable, afford basic needs, and participate fully in the economy — not more barriers that push people closer to crisis.”

Arizona legislature needs reality check on budget proposal | Opinion

Arizona's legislature proposed a state budget that once again offered tax cuts. But cutting taxes means less revenue coming in to pay for everything the state needs. Time to fix the math problem.

Arizona’s budget debate is stuck in a place that no longer reflects reality.

For years, state lawmakers have treated tax cuts as a default strategy, arguing that they will magically produce growth, attract business and solve economic challenges. But budgets are not built on magic. They are built on math. And right now, the math doesn't add up.

The latest budget proposal makes that clear. The state is facing real constraints, yet instead of addressing the revenue shortfall, lawmakers are doubling down on the same approach: cutting taxes and hoping for a different result.

That is not a strategy. It is a gamble Arizona can no longer afford.

Arizona’s GOP budget: Tax breaks for data centers and Roth IRAs, cuts for the people who need food

But Joseph Palomino, director of the Arizona Center for Economic Progress, told the Mirror that many of the policies in the Republican budget were unpopular. 

“It’s not going to meaningfully address affordability, it’s not going to grow the economy,” he said.