Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

About 600,000 Coloradans receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.

That will come as welcome news to the 600,000 Coloradans, half of whom are children, who rely on SNAP funding to help buy groceries each month.

Local governments across Colorado face budget deficits in 2026. Some are tapping their reserves to keep people fed as SNAP benefits lapse.

A pair of statewide measures will increase funding for Colorado’s free school meals program and let the state use leftover revenue to help cover SNAP costs.

Colorado’s Joint Budget Committee has approved spending $10 million from the state’s reserves to shore up food banks and food assistance programs.

The lawsuit filed by about two dozen states would force the USDA to tap a contingency fund for SNAP benefits.