Governor's tweet highlights common misconceptions about SNAP recipients

On the morning of October 31, Gov. Tate Reeves tweeted that the state would be looking to amend its food stamp rules, posting:

“In a nation that is printing money daily just to make our debt payments, it doesn’t make sense to throw your tax money at anything other than the true necessities. So it makes no sense at all to fund sugar instead of hearty nutritious meals. I love a soda or candy bar—who doesn’t? But it’s a treat on a hard day. And it’s best enjoyed with money earned from work, not your neighbor’s taxes.

“That’s why we’re amending our food stamp rules to allow good sustaining food like rotisserie chickens and disallow sugary candy and drinks. If the first ingredient is sugar or corn syrup, it won’t be available with taxpayer money any more.”

The governor’s tweet comes after the Mississippi Department of Human Services announced earlier in the week that Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits would not be issued beginning November 1 due to the federal government shutdown, which at 36 days and counting, as of Nov. 6, 2025, is now the longest in U.S. history.

Though food assistance was provided during past shutdowns, the administration has maintained that it cannot use emergency funds to pay for the program. President Donald Trump has also said that he would defy a court order to make partial SNAP payments during the shutdown.

To remedy the issue caused by the disruption in SNAP benefits, some states including Louisiana have allocated state funds to cover all of part of the program, but Gov. Reeves has not indicated that he will push for Mississippi to do the same. As a result of the shutdown, according to the Mississippi Department of Human Services, “350,000 Mississippians who use SNAP benefits to help them purchase healthy foods” will lose their access. The agency advises recipients to turn to food banks, several of which are listed on its website.

The tone of Gov. Reeve’s tweet highlights the state’s inaction to provide for the basic needs of its people. Embodied in the same tweet is a reference to work requirements for beneficiaries of government assistance programs, the implication being that many don’t want to work: “Welfare benefits are a hand-up for those in desperate, temporary need,” Reeves posted. “And when taxpayers fund these things, they do so strategically. They’re trying to help their neighbors into a better life–a more fulfilling one. That means a job you can be proud of, and a lifestyle that is healthy: on a physical and spiritual level.”

In reality, many beneficiaries whose families need such benefits do work, while others are unable to work due to age, disability or difficulty paying for childcare.

“Many households in our area are one unexpected bill away from not being able to put food on the table,” observed Jason Martin, executive director of the Hunger Coalition of Northeast Mississippi, which serves food-insecure families across Chickasaw, Itawamba, Lee, Monroe, Pontoc, Prentiss, Tippah, Tishomingo and Union counties. To fulfill its mission of increasing food security in the region, Hunger Coalition has connected with more than 40 local food pantries and related programs to provide both emergency response and long-term solutions.

In an area of the state where one in five Mississippians is food insecure, Martin said he is well aware of how desperately people need these benefits, regardless of their employment status. Low wages, limited access to grocery stores in rural communities, rising living expenses, and gaps in transportation have placed a significant strain on families in the region, he said. Even families that have employment are subject to the conditions that create food insecurity because “underemployment and low hourly wages continue to leave families stretched thin,” Martin said.

The addition of work requirements to SNAP benefits would exacerbate the issue. In its draconian cuts to federal spending, the Trump administration’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA) looks to cut spending on SNAP by $186 billion during the next decade. To achieve this end, the bill tightens work requirements needed to be eligible for benefits–a change that the Congressional Budget Office estimates will reduce SNAP beneficiaries by nearly 6 percent during an average month.

One of biggest changes to the program included in the bill revolves around able-bodied adults without dependents. Now, this group of adults is required to prove they are working at least 80 hours a month, pursuing an education, or in a training program, or they will only be eligible to receive SNAP benefits for a maximum of three months. In addition to tighter work requirements, OBBBA makes changes to exemptions. Previously, work requirements only applied to adults aged 18 to 54, but OBBBA expands the upper threshold to 65. It also negates the previously exempt status of veterans, homeless individuals, young adults transitioning out of foster care, and parents with a dependent over the age of 14.

After seeing the effect that the reduction in SNAP benefits had, with some partner pantries seeing 30-50 percent more families per month, Martin said he is acutely aware of the greater food insecurity these changes will cause. “Many of the people who would be affected are already working or have legitimate reasons they cannot work,” he said. “These additional administrative hurdles can cause delays or loss of benefits for those who need them most, ultimately driving more people to seek food assistance from local pantries.”

Access to food is obviously a necessity of human life. However, due to cessation of SNAP benefits during the shutdown, and the changes made by OBBBA, families are being forced to regularly turn to food pantries for the first time.

Martin recalled meeting a working mother who told him that the food she received from the pantry allowed her to keep her children fed until her next pay day. “Stories like hers are far too common—and they’re exactly why our work remains critical in Northeast Mississippi,” he said.

North Mississippi is just one example. Across the state, such need is common and is expected to considerably worsen during the shutdown and under the new requirements.

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Image: Providing food to needy residents (credit Jason Martin, Hunger Coalition of Northeast Mississippi)