Ohio lawmakers unite for bipartisan bill that aims to double SNAP payments for seniors

Cincinnati, Ohio – A group of Ohio lawmakers from both parties have introduced House Bill 428, which would double the average monthly SNAP payments for people aged 60 and up. Democrats, and a key Republican supporter, put forward the plan on Tuesday. Its main goal is to improve the financial help seniors get for buying healthy food.

Ohio residents aged 60 and up to feel the benefits

The new bill says that any Ohioan aged 60 or later who is eligible for SNAP benefits and currently gets less than $50 a month will have their benefits raised until they reach a minimum of $50. Rep. Jay Edwards (R-Athens), who is chair of the House Finance Committee, and Rep. Dan Troy (D-Willowick) are leading this effort. Their roles as leaders show how important the bill is and how it might affect Ohio’s older citizens.

Rep. Edwards, a key Republican supporter of this effort, talked about the bill as a way to “protect older Ohioans who are living on fixed incomes and struggle to afford healthy food due to high inflation.” As of now, the suggested bill, HB428, will need an investment of $30 million to $40 million from the state until the current state budget runs out in the summer of 2025.

This legislative effort comes at a critical time. SNAP helps about 71,000 households in Ohio with people aged 60 or older. Each month, they get an average of $25, which is half of what the new bill wants to promise. Since the end of the limited benefits increases that were put in place early in the coronavirus pandemic, the need for more help has become clearer. These improvements, which ended in February 2023, were very helpful for seniors who were having to deal with rising costs and less money to spend.

The push in Ohio to increase SNAP benefits is part of a larger national effort to make sure that older people can afford to buy healthy food. Representative Troy highlighted the steps other states have taken to add state funds to federal SNAP benefits.

“As Ohio lawmakers, shouldn’t we be doing the same?” he then asked.

Bipartisan support will make this bill possible

The bill has support from 20 Democrats in the House. At this point, Rep. Edwards is the only Republican who is also in favor of it. While it waits for its first committee hearing, the plan shows that both Democrats and Republicans want to help Ohio’s seniors who don’t have enough food. It also shows that everyone is working together to protect the health of people on fixed incomes as the cost of living rises.

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