Eleven percent leaner.

Eighty Hours

August 3, 2026 · Ibid.

Editorial cartoon: in a food bank sorting warehouse, a grey-haired veteran in a VOLUNTEER apron reaches back to stamp his own '80 HOURS' sheet on the sign-in table while his body has already turned into the client queue with an empty carton under his arm; a huge wall television shows Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins smiling, captioned ROLLINS, saying 'They didn't need it.'

More than 4 million people have lost SNAP food benefits since last July, as monthly enrollment fell from about 42 million to 37 million, an 11% drop. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act extended 80-hours-a-month work-or-volunteer requirements to veterans, homeless people, young adults leaving foster care, parents of teenagers and adults aged 55 to 64; the CBO projects 2.4 million fewer participants per average month through 2034. In Arizona enrollment is roughly half what it was a year ago, and a funding restructuring landing in October shifts millions in costs onto the states.