Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – The “Big Beautiful Bill’s” changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – “food stamps” – were the subject of an Illinois House committee hearing Wednesday night.

Kate Maehr, executive director and CEO of the Greater Chicago Food Depository and co-chair of the Illinois Commission to End Hunger, said the federal government, which has been paying virtually 100 percent of the costs, will eventually offload up to $800 million per year to Illinois.

Maehr said such requirements add unnecessary hoops to jump through and do not promote work or economic stability.

April Harris, a Chicago woman whose husband is sick with multiple sclerosis and whose family has battled homelessness, said her family still relies on SNAP benefits. “Remember families like mine. Despite what happens at a federal level, Illinois should ensure that SNAP remains fully funded and accessible, so families will not go hungry and people with medical conditions aren’t forced into dangerous, cruel, and impossible choices.”

“I think you are the most important speaker we have this evening,” the committee chair, State Rep. Anna Moeller (D-Elgin), told Harris.

1.8 million Illinoisans are on SNAP.