As lawmakers prepare Kentucky's biennial budget for the 2026 legislative session, the state budget director says the commonwealth will need to set aside over $115 million more than in previous years to keep giving its residents in need food stamps and – because of the federal reconciliation bill passed earlier this summer – potentially potentially hundreds of millions of dollars on top of that.

Kentucky and other states are all looking at higher costs on their end to pay for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and other federally-administered programs after that bill passed earlier this summer.

John Hicks, Kentucky's state budget director, said the commonwealth and other states will have to pay 75% of the administrative costs for SNAP effective October 2026 – up from the

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