About 550,000 fewer Texans receive SNAP benefits than a year ago—a 16% drop—and more than half of the people losing food assistance are children, according to reports. This loss of support is the clearest local result of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law on July 4, 2025.  

For families, service providers, schools, health systems, employers and community organizations across the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas network, the one-year anniversary of the law is more than a marker on the calendar. It is an opportunity to assess what has changed, what pressures are emerging, and how our region can respond with clarity and urgency. 

Here’s what the law changed for food assistance, health coverage and family savings in Dallas, Collin, Rockwall and southern Denton counties—and what you can do about it. 

What is the One Big Beautiful Bill Act? 

The OBBBA was signed into law on July 4, 2025. The law is a cornerstone of President Trump’s second-term economic and domestic agenda, and includes: 

• Tax code changes: The OBBBA made tax cuts permanent from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.  

• Funding cuts: To offset the tax cuts, the OBBBA reduced funding in a variety of areas, including healthcare spending (in part by overhauling Medicaid) and implementing new work requirements for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients. 

• Trump Accounts: The law established new tax-deferred savings accounts for children under 18. 

How has the One Big Beautiful Bill Act impacted North Texas? 

The first year of OBBBA implementation has been challenging for many of our low- and moderate-income neighbors, in particular due to increased healthcare costs and cuts to food assistance.  

“The law has made it clear that economic mobility is not created by aspiration alone,” says Hillary Evans, vice president of policy and advocacy at United Way of Metropolitan Dallas. “It depends on whether families can reliably access the food, health coverage, childcare, transportation and public systems that make stability possible.”  

We are also seeing a different face of need: not only families living in generational poverty, but moderate-income working households whose stability can be upended by a job loss, divorce, change in caregiving, health emergency or other reduction in income. For these families, financial stability depends on whether public systems are accessible, predictable and designed to help people stabilize during moments of transition.  

When food assistance and health coverage become harder to access, families often face impossible tradeoffs: groceries or rent, prescriptions or utilities, childcare or transportation. We’re seeing our neighbors have to make these types of difficult decisions in classrooms, workplaces, emergency rooms, food pantries and household budgets across North Texas. 

How are SNAP restrictions hurting North Texas families? 

One of the most immediate impacts of the law has been its restrictions on SNAP. OBBBA expanded work requirements and narrowed exemptions, meaning more adults must document qualifying work, training or service hours to maintain food assistance. While lawmakers often frame the goal of these types of policies as “getting people back to work,” many SNAP participants already work, care for family members, attend school or face barriers such as unstable schedules, limited transportation, health challenges, caregiving responsibilities or gaps in available training slots. 

A year later, the practical effect of the law is becoming clearer: Eligible people can lose food support not because they no longer need help, but because the rules are harder to navigate. For North Texas, that means greater demand on food banks, schools, faith communities, community-based organizations and emergency assistance providers. As enrollment declines, our region also risks losing food dollars that circulate through grocery stores, farmers, distributors, logistics networks and local employers.  

“Hunger is not only a household issue; it is an economic stability issue,” Evans says. “Texas is already one of the most food-insecure states in the nation, and these new SNAP work requirements are making hunger an everyday reality for more of our neighbors.” 

How are Medicaid enrollment declines affecting health, work and family stability? 

OBBBA also created new Medicaid eligibility and verification requirements, including work requirements for certain adults and more frequent checks in states affected by the law’s provisions.  

Although Texas has not expanded Medicaid, changes in federal policy still matter for our state’s broader health coverage environment, as well as safety-net providers and families navigating complex eligibility rules. One year in, the concern is not only who qualifies for coverage, but who can successfully complete the steps required to keep it. 

Enrollment declines have consequences beyond the doctor’s office. When people lose Medicaid, they may delay preventive care, skip medications, rely more heavily on emergency rooms or struggle to manage chronic conditions. For children and families, health coverage is connected to school attendance, child development, parental employment and financial security. For local hospitals, clinics, behavioral health providers and county systems, coverage losses can increase uncompensated care and strain already limited resources. 

Immigrant families and mixed-status households are having an especially difficult time navigating major cuts to SNAP and Medicaid. With many non-citizens losing federal coverage and stricter work rules expanding to seniors aged 60 to 64, North Texas food banks report significant participation drops and a surge in local demand.  

To complicate the situation further, many Americans who access health coverage through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) have seen their premium and deductible costs rise significantly over the last year, after Congress failed to extend ACA subsidies that made health insurance more affordable. As of July, about 2.6 million Americans have dropped or lost their ACA insurance due to rising costs, making this year the steepest single-year decline since the Marketplace opened in 2014.  

How are Trump Accounts benefiting families? 

While the OBBBA has created new limitations on SNAP and Medicaid programs, one silver lining of the law is the way it is helping families invest for the future and create pathways for generational wealth.  

The law established Trump Accounts, a new savings and investment vehicle for children structured as traditional IRAs for minors. The program is designed to encourage long-term investing and financial literacy by providing eligible children with an opportunity to begin saving money from birth. Accounts are owned by the child, managed by an authorized adult and subject to strict contribution, investment and withdrawal rules until the child reaches age 18.  

A key feature is a pilot program providing a one-time $1,000 Treasury contribution for eligible U.S.-citizen children born between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2028. Families can establish accounts through the IRS or the Trump Accounts app. The Department of the Treasury formally launched Trump Accounts on July 4.  

For more information, read our blog that compares Trump Accounts with other savings options, including our Dollars for College program. 

What does the One Big Beautiful Bill Act mean for North Texans moving forward? 

At United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, we improve access to education, income and health, three pillars that create a foundation for individuals, families and communities.  

The one-year anniversary of OBBBA makes clear that these three issues cannot be separated. A student who comes to school hungry cannot fully learn. A parent who loses health coverage may miss work or face medical debt. A worker who loses SNAP benefits because of paperwork or an unstable schedule may have less capacity to pursue training, maintain employment or care for family members.  

The anniversary gives us a moment to move from awareness to coordinated action. That means listening to families and frontline organizations, tracking enrollment and service demand, supporting benefits navigation, partnering with food and health providers, and elevating policy recommendations that reduce administrative barriers. It also means telling a regional story: When families can meet basic needs, children learn, adults work, employers benefit and communities are stronger. 

The second year of implementation will require all of us to do more than monitor federal changes. It will require local strategies that protect access, improve communication and help eligible residents stay connected to food and health coverage. It will require policymakers to understand the real-world effects of work requirements, redeterminations, call center delays, document requests and benefit disruptions. And it will require community partners like United Way to work together so families do not fall through the cracks. 

At United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, we know that opportunity is built when families have the resources, relationships and support systems they need to thrive. One year after OBBBA reshaped SNAP and Medicaid, our goal is to keep the focus where it belongs: on the children, workers, caregivers, seniors, veterans, people with disabilities and families whose stability strengthens the entire North Texas region. 

For the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas network, this is where policy and practice meet. The question is not simply whether benefits exist on paper. The question is whether eligible families can actually access them, keep them and use them as a bridge to stability. As implementation continues, state, local, philanthropic, private sector, and nonprofit partners have an important role to play in reducing unnecessary coverage and benefit losses. 

What You Can Do to Help: Urge Congress to Delay the SNAP Cost Share Requirement 

United Way of Metropolitan Dallas joins other United Ways and community partners to urge Congress to delay implementation of a new SNAP cost share requirement, which could have significant financial consequences for Texas and threaten access to food assistance for families across the state. 

The Senate Agriculture Committee recently released draft Farm Bill language that does not include a delay of the SNAP cost share requirement. A committee markup is expected before the August recess, making the next several weeks a critical opportunity for advocates to speak up. 

Three Ways You Can Help, Right Now 

1. Contact your members of Congress directly or send a message through Feeding Texas’ e-mobilization campaign. (Visit Congress.gov to find the best ways to contact your members of Congress.) 

1. Share the Feeding Texas action alert with your colleagues, partners and community members. 

1. Help spread the word on social media using the outreach toolkit from Feeding Texas, including ready-to-use Canva graphics. 

Why The SNAP Cost Share Requirement Matters 

OBBBA shifts a portion of SNAP benefit costs to states for the first time in the program’s 60-year history. Beginning October 1, 2027, states with SNAP payment error rates above 6% must pay between 5 and 15% of benefit costs. In fiscal year 2025, Texas’ payment error rate was 9.34%, and the state could face up to $709 million in new annual costs beginning in fiscal year 2028. 

At the same time, SNAP participation in Texas has already fallen dramatically since OBBBA was enacted, with about 550,000 fewer Texans receiving SNAP benefits. More than half of those affected are children. 

Now is the time to urge Congress to provide states with additional time before these costly new requirements take effect. Your voice can help protect nutrition assistance for Texas families while giving states the opportunity to strengthen program administration and avoid significant new financial burdens.