All Coloradans who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits will see a reduction in their monthly benefit amount after February. The temporary additional benefit amounts - emergency allotments - are ending following the passage of the Omnibus Bill (Consolidated Appropriations Act) signed into law December 30, 2022. This is a change enacted by Congress and is not appealable by individual SNAP recipients. SNAP serves more than 290,000 households and 540,000 individuals in Colorado each month by providing money to purchase food.

Emergency allotment gave SNAP participants additional money for food during the COVID-19 pandemic by bringing all households up to the maximum allowable benefit for their household size, as opposed to a calculated benefit based on income and expenses. This change is expected to result in an average reduction of $90 per person per month, or an average of $360 a month for a family of four. This reduction in benefits may have a significant impact on many households and Colorado’s economy.

Colorado has launched a new website https://cdhs.colorado.gov/snap-ea-ending to help residents plan for the end of these temporary federal benefits.

If a household does not participate in SNAP and is interested in helping, please consider donating funds or food items for your local food pantry or food bank. A list of local pantries can be found at https://careandshare.org/findfood/.