Two recent federal laws have rewritten large parts of the food stamp program, and the new SNAP laws now reach further into who has to work, who qualifies, and how much households receive. The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 first widened the age range for work requirements and carved out new exemptions. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 then pushed the age ceiling higher, removed those exemptions, froze the benefit formula, and shifted more costs onto states. If you receive SNAP or are thinking about applying, the rules that governed your case a year ago may not be the rules that govern it today.
Work Requirements Now Reach Age 64
SNAP has long required certain adults without dependents, known as ABAWDs, to work or train to keep benefits beyond three months in any three-year period. Before 2023, the time limit applied to adults ages 18 through 49. The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 raised the upper age to 54. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 pushed it again, this time to 64.1Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Work Requirements
Adults ages 18 through 64 without qualifying dependents must now work, volunteer, or take part in a training program for at least 80 hours a month to receive benefits beyond the three-month window. Paid employment, self-employment, unpaid work, volunteering, and programs such as SNAP Employment and Training all count, and you can combine them to reach the 80-hour total.1Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Work Requirements
The 2025 law also brought parents of older children into the ABAWD framework for the first time. Previously, caring for a child of any age kept a parent out of the time-limited category. Now only parents of children under 14 are automatically excluded.
Exemptions Eliminated for Veterans, Homeless Adults, and Former Foster Youth
The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 created three new exempt categories: veterans discharged under conditions other than dishonorable, individuals experiencing homelessness, and young adults ages 18 through 24 who were in foster care on their 18th birthday.2Federal Register. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Program Purpose and Work Requirement Provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 eliminated all three. Veterans, people experiencing homelessness, and former foster youth are now subject to the same work requirements and time limits as other adults in their age range.1Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Work Requirements A veteran who could rely on an exemption last year now needs to document 80 hours of qualifying activity each month or face the three-month cutoff. The same is true for someone living in a shelter or a 22-year-old who aged out of foster care with no family safety net. USDA is still releasing detailed implementation guidance, but the statute is clear.
Who Is Still Exempt
Some groups remain outside the ABAWD time limit. People with a physical or mental disability that prevents them from working are exempt, as are pregnant individuals and anyone caring for a child under 14 or an incapacitated household member. Adults 65 and older fall outside the ABAWD age range entirely.
Enrollment in certain other programs, or already meeting a general SNAP work registration requirement through another federal work program, may also qualify you for an exception. The specifics depend on the program and on how your state administers its employment and training options. If you think you qualify, raise it with your local SNAP office during application or recertification rather than assuming it will be applied automatically.
Smaller Benefits From a Frozen Formula
SNAP benefit amounts are tied to the Thrifty Food Plan, the USDA market basket meant to reflect the cost of a basic nutritious diet. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 requires that any future updates to the plan be cost-neutral. USDA cannot raise the plan’s value even if food prices climb or dietary science calls for a more expensive basket. That freezes the baseline used to calculate benefits and can erode purchasing power as grocery prices change.
The 2025 law also eliminated categorical eligibility for the Heating and Cooling Standard Utility Allowance for households that do not include an elderly or disabled member. That deduction had let qualifying households reduce their countable income, which in turn raised their monthly benefit. Losing it will mean smaller benefits for some households even when their income has not changed.
2026 Income Limits and Maximum Allotments
For the period from October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2026, financial eligibility runs off federal poverty guidelines. Your household must fall within both a gross and a net income limit, unless it includes an elderly or disabled member, in which case only the net income test applies.3Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Eligibility
- Household of one: gross monthly income up to $1,696; net monthly income up to $1,305
- Household of four: gross monthly income up to $3,483; net monthly income up to $2,680
Maximum monthly allotments for fiscal year 2026 in the 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C.:3Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Eligibility
- One person: $298
- Two people: $546
- Three people: $785
- Four people: $994
- Five people: $1,183
- Six people: $1,421
- Seven people: $1,571
- Eight people: $1,789
- Each additional person: add $218
These are maximums. Most households receive less based on countable income after deductions. Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands use separate, higher schedules.
Stolen EBT Benefits No Longer Federally Replaced
Card skimming has drained accounts for years, and USDA is rolling out chip-enabled EBT cards to make cloning harder. As of early 2026, multiple states have issued chip cards, and retailers nationwide are required to ensure their terminals can accept them, including out-of-state chip cards.4Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP EBT Modernization
The bigger change for recipients is what happens after a theft. The federal authority that required states to replace stolen benefits covered only thefts between October 1, 2022, and December 20, 2024. Congress has not extended it, so there is currently no federal guarantee of reimbursement for thefts after that date.5Food and Nutrition Service. Addressing Stolen SNAP Benefits Some states may offer their own replacement policies, but the federal backstop is gone. If your benefits are stolen, contact your local SNAP office immediately, and in the meantime protect your PIN and monitor your balance closely.
State Cost-Sharing Is Shifting
Both laws tightened state flexibility. Under the 2023 law, the discretionary exemptions each state can grant to ABAWDs who would otherwise lose benefits dropped from 12 percent of the affected caseload to 8 percent.6U.S. Department of Agriculture. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Fiscal Year 2026 Allocations of Discretionary Exemptions for Time-Limited Participants States had used those waivers to protect people in areas with high unemployment. With fewer available, caseworkers have less room to shield residents when local job markets are weak.
The 2025 law then added a financial burden. Starting in fiscal year 2027, states must cover 75 percent of SNAP administrative costs, up from the current 50 percent split with the federal government. Beginning in fiscal year 2028, states with high payment error rates will also owe a share of actual benefit costs. A state with an error rate at or above 10 percent, for example, would shoulder 15 percent of benefit expenditures. The provisions are designed to push states toward more accurate eligibility determinations, but they also create pressure to tighten enrollment.
Getting Back on SNAP After a Work-Requirement Cutoff
If you lose benefits because you did not meet the ABAWD work requirement within the three-month window, you can earn your way back. You need to meet the 80-hour requirement for a single 30-day period, whether through work, volunteering, or a qualifying program.1Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Work Requirements
You also regain eligibility if you become exempt entirely, such as by turning 65, developing a qualifying disability, or taking responsibility for a child under 14. Either path resets the three-month clock. Report qualifying activity as soon as you meet the 30-day threshold so benefits can restart without a delay. If your state offers expedited processing for households in urgent need, you may receive benefits within five to seven days of submitting a new or reopened application, though standard processing can take up to 30 days.
USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service is still publishing implementation guidance for the 2025 law’s SNAP provisions.3Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Eligibility For the most current rules on how these changes apply to your household, check your state agency’s website or call your local SNAP office.