North Carolina is at risk of losing $420 million in food benefits and $39.9 billion in Medicaid funding over the next decade. These cuts would devastate families, veterans, and people returning home after incarceration.

This week, the NC Justice Center’s Fair Chance Criminal Justice Project delivered a letter Rep. Chuck Edwards, urging him to vote NO on a federal budget that includes cuts to vital SNAP and Medicaid programs. 

You can read the letter here

 

July 1, 2025
The Honorable Chuck Edwards
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Representative Edwards:
As a statewide organization supporting individuals returning to their communities after
incarceration, we are writing to urge you to take action to support positive reentry outcomes and
the health of your constituents. Please vote NO on a federal budget that includes cuts to vital
SNAP and Medicaid programs.

that you act protect access to food benefits for 1.4 million North Carolinians and prevent our
state from losing $420 million in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funds.
North Carolina also risks losing $39.9 billion in Medicaid funding over the next decade
Proposed SNAP cuts in the Senate budget would rip away food assistance from millions of
people, including people returning home from incarceration, families with children, workers,
veterans, seniors, people with disabilities and chronic health conditions, and many others. A
staggering 91 percent of people recently released from prison report experiencing food
insecurity, with 37 percent going entire days without eating because they did not have enough
money.

SNAP and Medicaid are essential lifelines that ensure many reentering individuals and
their households have access to essential nutrition, stability, and better health outcomes –
all key factors in reducing recidivism.

The North Carolina Justice Center is deeply concerned with the Senate’s cuts to SNAP, which
includes particularly harsh impacts on people with prior convictions and families, such as
implementing work requirements for older adults and parents with school-age children. These
added work requirements impose additional restrictions on households already struggling to meet
basic needs and present the most harm to families that include children, disabled people, and
older adults, who make up 86 percent of SNAP recipients.

For people with prior convictions, work reporting requirements cause even more severe hurdles
for food access and Medicaid. Stigma, discrimination, and a host of other collateral
consequences make it difficult for reentry individuals to find and keep employment. Not having
access to food through SNAP or other types of social services such as Medicaid can create or
exacerbate health problems. It creates barriers for someone with a prior conviction trying to
make meaningful contributions to their household and community.

Formerly incarcerated people experience disproportionately higher rates of chronic conditions,
substance use disorders, and mental health disorders. Medicaid is an essential form of coverage
for accessing treatment to care for these underlying health conditions, and proposed work
reporting requirements will create unnecessary barriers for a vulnerable population that needs to
access healthcare.

The proposals to cut the thrifty food plan and shift the costs of foods benefits to the state come
during a time when we must focus on Hurricane Helene recovery. These proposals will further
strain North Carolina’s economy and will lead to many North Carolinians, including those
reentering after a period of incarceration, having less access to healthy, nutritious food, and
lifesaving health insurance coverage to care for themselves and their families.

Protecting SNAP and Medicaid is a common-sense effort that is good for reentry, good for
the state, and good for the economy. Every dollar spent on SNAP benefits generates an
estimated $1.50 in economic benefits. According to the USDA’s Economic Research Service,
each $1 billion of retail generated by SNAP creates $340 million in farm production, $110
million in farm value-added, and 3,300 farm jobs nationally.

Protecting Medicaid and SNAP for North Carolinians with prior convictions supports successful
reentry, overall health, reduces recidivism, and helps the economy. We urge you to take action
to support positive reentry outcomes and the health of your constituents by voting NO on a
federal budget that includes cuts vital SNAP and Medicaid programs. The health and safety
of our communities depends on you.

Signed,

The North Carolina Justice Center, Fair Chance Criminal Justice Project