Overview
- Effective December 1, adults up to age 64 must meet roughly 80 hours per month of work, training or volunteering, the dependent-child exemption drops to age 14, and prior exemptions for people experiencing homelessness, veterans and certain former foster youth are removed.
- The requirements apply immediately to new applicants and will take effect for current recipients at their next recertification, with reporting citing CBO analysis that many who do not comply could begin losing benefits as early as March 2026 depending on the state.
- Separate eligibility changes that took effect November 1 restrict non‑citizen access, limiting SNAP largely to citizens, lawful permanent residents after a five‑year wait unless exempt, COFA citizens, and certain Cuban and Haitian entrants, leaving most asylum seekers ineligible except through eligible U.S.‑citizen children.
- Following the government shutdown, USDA published state schedules and December SNAP payments are being issued, including detailed calendars for North Carolina, New Mexico and Arizona via EBT cards.
- Federal funding is now tied to state error rates, potentially shifting 5%–15% of costs to states above a 6% error threshold, with CBO estimating about 300,000 additional losses between 2028 and 2034, as USDA also initiates re‑submissions in a fraud review that cited 186,000 deceased on the rolls.