April 29, 2026
To: Senator Trent and Members of the Senate General Laws Committee
From: Christine Woody, Food Security Policy Manager at Empower Missouri
Re: HB 2481
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. My name is Christine Woody and I am with Empower Missouri. Empower Missouri is the state’s largest anti-poverty advocacy organization.
I am here to respectfully urge you to oppose House Bill 2481.
While this bill is framed as getting in line with Federal Law and preventing benefits from going to undocumented individuals, the reality is that undocumented immigrants are already ineligible for programs like SNAP and Medicaid, and the changes in this bill would not put us in line with Federal law, but require MO to violate federal law and face the loss of Federal funding, as is stated numerous times in the fiscal note submitted by our Department of Social Services.
First, Missouri is already required to verify immigration status of every applicant for SNAP and Medicaid. Applicants must provide their SSN or their qualifying Alien Registration Number (otherwise known as A number) when they apply. If a person does not provide those numbers they are ineligible for the program. Additionally, the State runs applicants through federal electronic databases run by the Social Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security to prove they are citizens of this country.
Section 208.009 9 of bill says that these electronic verifications are not enough and would require documentary submissions by every applicant to prove their citizenship not only at the time of initial application but at every re-certification point (for SNAP that is every 6 months for most households). This additional verification requirement goes against what is permitted in federal law and could result, if followed, in the loss of federal funds. Federal law states that only one source of verification should ever be required.
And then Section 208.009.12 -1 requires FSD to verify adult applicants’ relationship and financial responsibility for each child in their household. Neither proof of relationship nor financial responsibility are required for a minor to be included in a SNAP household in accordance with federal law. Citizenship is verified for each applicant, but relationship or proof of financial responsibility does not need to be verified. For example, a grandparent who is caring for a grandchild, because a parent is not in the picture, would be able to claim the child as part of their household and receive SNAP benefits for them. And as FSD states in the fiscal note, in order to continue receiving federal funds for the administration of SNAP, FSD must adhere to the federal requirements. Failure to adhere to these requirements may result in the loss of federal funding.
These extra un-required and unnecessary documentation verifications will add so much additional paperwork ( 600,000 SNAP participants and 1.3 million medicaid participants), increased need for new technology to secure these documents, increased number of caseworkers— all of which will cost the state more money ( an estimated 2.4million per year) plus at least 42 new full time employees to implement the provisions of the bill.
If our shared goal is program integrity, efficiency and accuracy we should focus on evidence-based oversight—not policies that increase the unnecessary red tape and make it harder for Americans to feed their families.
For these reasons, I respectfully urge you to oppose this bill.
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