Biden administration approves major increase to SNAP benefits

• In January, Biden issued an executive order increasing the scope of SNAP and other food assistance programs, prompting the reevaluation of the Thrifty Food Plan, which is used to calculate SNAP benefits.
• The changes reflect the "shifts in the food marketplace and consumers’ circumstances," since the program was created in 1975 per the Department of Agriculture.
• The increase is slated to begin on Oct. 1, for fiscal year 2022.

The big picture: Nearly 43.8 million people were on the program in 2020, up from 35.7 million in 2019, Axios' Oriana Gonzalez writes.

• The increase excludes additional funding provided by pandemic-related aid and comes as many states are rescinding their emergency declarations, the Washington Post notes.
• The coronavirus drove federal spending on the program up by an average of 28% per month last year, nearly double the largest monthly growth seen during the Great Recession.