Op-ed by Erik Hicks, published in The Colorado Sun.

This month, Coloradans enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program had their benefits slashed.

Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, ending SNAP Emergency Allotments for Colorado and every other participating state after February this year. These Emergency Allotments, introduced at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, increased the amount of SNAP dollars families could use to buy groceries.

But now after three years of increased help, those benefits are going away. For a family of three who earn $1,000 a month in income, their SNAP benefits will be cut by almost half, from $740 a month to $440.