State officials and local providers warn SNAP and HUD changes risk raising homelessness

State officials and local housing providers told the Senate Interim Committee on Housing and Development that recent federal changes to SNAP eligibility and shifting HUD guidance could worsen housing instability and impose significant administrative burdens on state and local programs.

Jessica Amaya Hoffman, SNAP director at the Oregon Department of Human Services, said roughly 757,000 Oregonians receive SNAP (about one in six residents), with the average household benefit about $313 per month and an estimated $183 per person. She described key changes in House Resolution 1 (HR 1) that expand work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents (ABOD), increase the age range subject to work rules, lower the dependent-age threshold and remove several exemptions. Jessica said about 310,000 adults may need to be reviewed for work requirements and that the agency expects approximately 90,880…