Biden administration approves largest increase to food assistance benefits in SNAP program history

The Biden administration has approved the largest increase to food assistance benefits in the history of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a move that will substantially retool the program to provide the targeted assistance advocates have long argued is desperately needed by poor families.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is expected to announce Monday morning that benefit amounts for the program, formerly known as food stamps, will rise an average of 25 percent above pre-pandemic levels. First reported by the New York Times and confirmed by a spokeswoman at the Agriculture Department, average monthly benefits, which were $121 per person before the pandemic, will rise by $36 under the new rules.