Advocates say as many as 13,000 low-income Vermonters could see their federal food benefits reduced or eliminated under the budget reconciliation bill being considered by Congress.

Legislation passed by the U.S. House last month would cause many Vermonters to lose eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. The bill would also force states to pick up 5% of the program's cost, and impose potentially severe penalties for administrative errors.

Ivy Enoch, with Hunger Free Vermont, said the proposal could strip Vermonters of anywhere between $7 million and $33 million annually in federal food benefits.

“The analyses sound really hyperbolic, but they’re not,” Enoch said Wednesday. “These proposals are unprecedented and truly devastating."

The bottom line is t

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