Led by the Mayors Alliance’s leadership. Mayor Daniel Rickenmann, Columbia, SC (Chair), and Mayor Alyia Gaskins, Alexandria, VA (Vice-Chair), a bipartisan group of more than 100 members of the Mayors Alliance to End Childhood Hunger, from across the political spectrum and from large and small cities, wrote to Congressional leaders with the message of defending SNAP as Congress deliberates on a Farm Bill package.
The letter calls on Congress to prioritize children and families facing hunger in any Farm Bill or farm relief legislation by rolling back the devastating cuts recently made to SNAP.
The full letter, including the letter’s signatories, is available here and copied below.
April 28, 2026
Dear Congressional Leaders:
We are writing as members of the Mayors Alliance to End Childhood Hunger, a nonpartisan coalition representing more than 600 mayors across all 50 states and Washington, DC, from large and medium cities to smaller communities and townships, working in partnership with Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry Campaign to ensure that every child has the healthy food they need to thrive. Our offices are on the front lines of responding to challenges in our communities, and as mayors, we need every available tool to fight childhood hunger.
We write today to urge you to prioritize children and families facing hunger in any Farm Bill or farm relief legislation by rolling back the devastating cuts recently made to SNAP.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is our nation’s most powerful tool to end hunger. It offers a bridge during hard times, helping more than 40 million Americans, including 1 in 5 children, afford nutritious food each month. Research consistently shows that access to SNAP improves lives and lifts families out of poverty while boosting local economies.
Yet, in July 2025, Congress fundamentally changed the structure of SNAP, expanded time limits and burdensome reporting requirements, and cut almost $200 billion (20 percent) from the program, the largest cut in SNAP’s history. The scale and breadth of the changes, coupled with the short implementation timelines, have set states up to fail by increasing the likelihood of inadvertent errors, leading to higher costs for states for years to come. States face many implementation challenges, including:
- Insufficient time to meaningfully improve their error rates in ways that do not compromise access for eligible individuals and families. Congress shifted SNAP costs to the states in July 2025, leaving just 3 months for states to affect their FY25 error rate calculation, which will help determine the portion of SNAP benefits they will be forced to pay beginning in October 2027.
- Inadequate and delayed regulatory guidance, training, and resources to implement new, onerous federal eligibility requirements.
- A 43-day federal government shutdown in October and November 2025 that compounded the challenges facing state agencies, which did their best to operate under shifting or absent guidance, sometimes receiving conflicting direction from USDA and the courts on the same day.
Without Congressional leadership in mitigating the damage to federal nutrition programs, states are facing an unprecedented budget crisis. From administrative and benefit cost shifts to increased red tape and cost-prohibitive technical requirements, states may, for the first time ever, have to consider restricting or eliminating SNAP. We, as mayors, will undoubtedly feel the effect of state budget pressures and reduced access to SNAP, a critical program for our residents facing hard times. Fortunately, there is still an opportunity to protect federal nutrition programs.
We urge Congress to pass a strong Farm Bill or farm relief legislation that fully rolls back last year’s devastating cuts to SNAP. At a minimum, we encourage you to avoid making any further cuts to SNAP and to address time-sensitive needs, such as delaying the SNAP benefit cost shift until FY 2030 for all states.
In addition to the Farm Bill, please continue to consider how proposed legislation and funding actions impact local government budgets, preserve program accuracy and integrity, and ensure that SNAP continues to serve children and families facing hunger in our cities. We serve our communities best when federal, state, and local governments work together and avoid unintended consequences for our constituencies.
Thank you for considering our concerns and priorities. If you have any questions, please contact us at mayors@strength.org.
Sincerely,
Mayor Daniel Rickenmann
Chair
Columbia, SC
Mayor Alyia Gaskins
Vice-Chair
Alexandria, VA
Mayor Josh Gates
Jasper, AL
Mayor Bobby Scott
Center Point, AL
Mayor Becky Daggett
Flagstaff, AZ
Mayor Lee Brown
Luxora, AR
Mayor Lisa Hicks Gilbert
Elaine, AR
Mayor Melisa Logan
Blytheville, AR
Mayor Molly Rawn
Fayetteville, AR
Mayor Frank Scott, Jr.
Little Rock, AR
Mayor Larry Agran
Irvine, CA
Mayor Alma Beltran
Parlier, CA
Mayor Martha Guerrero
West Sacramento, CA
Mayor Rex Richardson
Long Beach, CA
Mayor Michael Vargas
Perris, CA
Mayor Aaron Brockett
Boulder, CO
Mayor Steve Conklin
Edgewater, CO
Mayor Duane Gurule
Rocky Ford, CO
Mayor Christine Sweetland
Centennial, CO
Mayor Laura Weinberg
Golden, CO
Mayor Matt Hoey
Guilford, CT
Mayor Paul Pernerewski
Waterbury, CT
Mayor Barbara Smyth
Norwalk, CT
Mayor Molly Spino
Torrington, CT
Mayor Joy Cooper
Hallandale Beach, FL
Mayor Geoffrey Jacobs
Pembroke Park, FL
Mayor Connie Alsobrook
Conyers, GA
Mayor Michael Owens
Mableton, GA
Mayor Lauren McLean
Boise, ID
Mayor Rita Ali
Peoria, IL
Mayor Jason Ashmore
Sesser, IL
Mayor Nathaniel George Booker
Maywood, IL
Village President Vicki Scaman
Oak Park, IL
Mayor Angie Nelson Deuitch
Michigan City, IN
Mayor Todd Jones
Elwood, IN
Mayor Connie Boesen
Des Moines, IA
Mayor Brad Finkeldei
Lawrence, KS
Mayor Sollie Flora
Mission, KS
Mayor Laura White-Brown
Morehead, KY
Mayor Helena Moreno
New Orleans, LA
Mayor Dominick Pangallo
Salem, MA
Mayor Jake Wilson
Somerville, MA
Mayor Emmett Jordan
Greenbelt, MD
Mayor Fazlul Kabir
College Park, MD
Mayor Talisha Searcy
Takoma Park, MD
Mayor Mark A. Behnke
Battle Creek, MI
Mayor Abdullah Hammoud
Dearborn, MI
Mayor Valerie J. Kindle
Harper Woods, MI
Mayor Theresa Rich
Farmington Hills, MI
Mayor Andy Schor
Lansing, MI
Mayor Kim Norton
Rochester, MN
Mayor Leighton Aldridge
Mound Bayou, MS
Mayor Melanie Townsend-Blackmon
Drew, MS
Mayor Jackie Soptic
Trenton, MO
Mayor Emily K. Dean
Helena, MT
Mayor John W. Ewing, Jr.
Omaha, NE
Mayor Elsie Foster
Highland Park, NJ
Mayor Jenny Mundell
Bloomfield, NJ
Mayor Richard O’Brien
Spotswood, NJ
Mayor Jen Rowland
Chatham Township, NJ
Mayor Timothy M. Keller
Albuquerque NM
Mayor Javier Perea
Sunland Park, NM
Town Supervisor Bill Moehle
Brighton, NY
Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard
Mount Vernon, NY
Mayor James A. Rice
Fulton, NY
Mayor Jess Anderson
Chapel Hill, NC
Mayor TJ Cawley
Morrisville, NC
Mayor Melissa Elliott
Henderson, NC
Mayor Barbara Foushee
Carrboro, NC
Mayor Dawn Ward
Magnolia, NC
Mayor Jack Bradley
Lorain, OH
Mayor Kevin A. Brubaker
Elyria, OH
Mayor Andrew Ginther
Columbus, OH
Mayor Stephen Tyler Holman
Norman, OK
Mayor Keith Wilson
Portland, OR
Mayor Kendy Alvarez
Lewisburg, PA
Mayor Jaime Arroyo
Lancaster, PA
Mayor Paige Cognetti
Scranton, PA
Mayor Bob Dandoy
Butler, PA
Mayor Ciera D. Dent
Steelton, PA
Mayor Joelisa McDonald
Rankin, PA
Mayor Jim Nowalk
Whitehall Borough, PA
Mayor Derek Slaughter
Williamsport, PA
Mayor Matt Tuerk
Allentown, PA
Mayor Dwan B. Walker
Aliquippa, PA
Mayor Joi Washington
Media, PA
Mayor Maria Rivera
Central Falls, RI
Mayor Brett P. Smiley
Providence, RI
Mayor Luke D. Giddings
Bishopville, SC
Mayor Stefanie Dalton
Red Bank, TN
Mayor Indya Kincannon
Knoxville, TN
Mayor Riakos Adams
Kileen, TX
Mayor Cynthia Carrasco
Alice, TX
Mayor Yvonne Flores-Cale
Kyle, TX
Mayor Erik Gomez
Sabinal, TX
Mayor Jeneshia Grider
Kirby, TX
Mayor Theresa McShan
Elgin, TX
Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones
San Antonio, TX
Mayor Laura Sanchez Fowler
Martindale, TX
Mayor Cheri Jackson
Millcreek, UT
Mayor Mark R. Shepherd
Clearfield, UT
Mayor Jenny Wilson
Salt Lake County, UT
Mayor Joseph Cobb
Roanoke, VA
Mayor Angela Birney
Redmond, WA
Mayor Cassie Franklin
Everett, WA
Mayor Cavalier Johnson
Milwaukee, WI
Mayor Ryan Sorenson
Sheboygan, WI
Mayor Shaundel Washington-Spivey
La Crosse, WI