NEW JERSEY (KYW Newsradio) — New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed legislation yesterday to address food insecurity and ensure kids and families know what resources are available to them.
As part of the requirements, schools must now post information about free and reduced lunches prominently on their websites.
Sherrill said they are also expanding eligibility, including for students at private schools, and some families are automatically signed up.
“No extra paperwork. No extra hoops to jump through. Two-thirds of eligible New Jersey families have been certified for school meals in this way. And we’re working to boost access to summer meals, too,” Sherrill said.
Sherrill said these actions are needed because the federal government is getting more restrictive with SNAP and Medicaid. She said that as enrollment decreases, so too will the number of children certified for free or reduced school lunches.
The Trump administration added work requirements and lifetime benefit limits, saying these programs are supposed to be short-term safety nets, not permanent dependency.
According to The Associated Press, in January 2025, when Trump was sworn in as president for his second term, there were approximately 42.83 million SNAP participants. That number dropped nearly 10% by January 2026, to about 38.55 million. The majority of the decline occurred in the second half of the year, after Trump signed H.R. 1 in July. There was a decrease of just 743,572 people from January 2025 to June 2025 and one of about 3.47 million from July 2025 to January 2026.
