ANCHORAGE – Breaking new reporting from Alaska Public Media details how Alaska veterans, many of whom risked their lives for this country, will struggle to put food on the table thanks to a law Dan Sullivan passed that gutted food assistance, making it harder for veterans to access benefits.
“Alaska veterans risked their lives for our freedom, but Dan Sullivan doesn’t care if they can’t afford groceries after he voted to kick them off food assistance to pay for tax breaks for millionaires like himself. It’s shameful, and our veterans deserve better,” said Alaska Democratic Party Chair Eric Croft.
Experts warn that Sullivan’s bill – which slashed SNAP benefits historically relied on by veterans, making them fulfill more stringent requirements to qualify for food assistance – is making it harder and harder for veterans to get by. Sullivan’s office defended the move, suggesting that Alaska veterans aren’t the “most vulnerable and disabled in society.”
Alaska has the highest veteran population in the country, and some of the highest food prices. That combination means Sullivan’s cuts are even more devastating here at home than they are in the lower 48. Alaskans deserve better.
Read more about how Dan Sullivan sold out Alaska veterans:
Alaska Public Media: A new law tightens access to SNAP benefits. Experts say it could leave Alaska veterans out in the cold.
By Shelby Herbert
March 17, 2026
Fairbanks Meals on Wheels’ “delivery list included several food-insecure veterans.”
Edington “often” hears from veterans applying for SNAP: “I tried before, and they denied me.”
Gina Plata-Nino, the director for SNAP at the Food Research and Action Center, said “she expects it will be difficult for many veterans in need to comply with the new law.”
Plata-Nino “also said the state’s SNAP application backlog could make it harder for Alaska veterans to apply for disability waivers.”
Fairbanks Sen. Scott Kawasaki, co-chair of the state’s Joint Armed Services Committee, called the new requirements “misdirected policies that would deny veterans benefits they have already earned through their sacrifice.“
“U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan — a member of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and a Marine Corps veteran himself — stands firm in his support for the law.”
“Sullivan couldn’t be reached for an interview, but […] a spokesperson for his office said in an emailed statement that the senator views his approach as “consistent with the overall goals of social safety net programs, which is to take care of the most vulnerable and disabled in society, but also to encourage upward mobility[.]”