WASHINGTON, Oct 1 (Zark News) — Major changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program take effect Thursday, as states begin picking up a far larger share of the program’s costs and millions of recipients face stricter rules that have already pushed enrollment to its lowest level since 2019.
Starting Oct. 1, state governments must cover 75% of SNAP’s administrative costs, up from the previous 50%, a shift federal regulators estimate will move roughly $17 billion in costs to states over five years, according to reports on the 2025 tax and spending law. As early as October 2027, the federal government will also stop paying the full cost of SNAP benefits, requiring states with high payment error rates to shoulder up to 15% of benefit costs.
An estimated 5 million Americans — including more than 1 million children — have already lost SNAP assistance over the past year under the law, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The Food Research & Action Center put the figure at 5.2 million. “The declines we’re seeing in SNAP participation so far are far deeper and far faster than the Congressional Budget Office predicted,” Dottie Rosenbaum, the CBPP’s director of federal SNAP policy, told ABC News.
Tougher work requirements are driving much of the decline. Under the law, food-stamp recipients ages 18 to 64 must work or volunteer at least 80 hours per month. The upper age limit for able-bodied adults without dependents was raised from 54 to 64, and exemptions for parents of dependent children were narrowed, lowering the qualifying age from 18 to 14. Previous exemptions for veterans, homeless people and former foster youth were stripped away, according to benefits analysts.
Eligibility for immigrants narrows Thursday as well. Only U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, Cuban and Haitian entrants, and certain Compact of Free Association nationals remain eligible — refugees, asylees and other humanitarian entrants lose eligibility, with the Congressional Budget Office estimating about 90,000 people per month will lose SNAP once fully in effect, according to the Urban Institute. The Urban Institute estimates more than 22 million households could lose some or all benefits under the law’s combined changes.
Most remaining recipients will see a modest boost from the annual cost-of-living adjustment: maximum monthly benefits for a single-person household rise from $298 to $306, and for a family of four from $994 to $1,023, according to ABC News reporting. “There is a lot of chaos going on in SNAP, and it is harming the people the program was designed to serve,” said Crystal FitzSimons, president of the Food Research & Action Center, calling the administration’s changes “absolutely unprecedented.”
Sources: ABC News, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Food Research & Action Center, Urban Institute