Ben Molin • Updated October 2, 2025
How the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Will Affect SNAP
The 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill was signed by President Trump on July 4th, 2025. SNAP is one of the main programs affected by it.
Here are three upcoming changes that may affect you regarding your SNAP eligibility and benefit amounts.
Update
States appear to be implementing the 18-64 and exemption changes this fall 2025. For example November 2025 for:
PA, VT, and TX. October 2025 for DE, and between Oct and Jan in OR.
1. SNAP Work Requirements Will Apply to More People
Essentially, a lot more people will now have to meet a 20-hour-per week work requirement to continue to receive SNAP benefits. This is the Able Bodied Adult Without Dependents (ABAWD) work requirement, also known as the "time limit." Your SNAP caseworker can help you figure out if this affects you.
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Fewer Work Requirement Waivers: Before July 2025, 32 states had the ABAWD work requirement waived in some or all of the state. This meant that there was no requirement for many people age 18-54 to work 20-hours-per-week to continue to receive SNAP. The option for states to waive people in their state from work requirements is going to become more strict, meaning work requirements will come back into effect for many people. You can see which states/areas are currently waived, and most likely to be affected here.
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Work Requirements Now For Ages 18-64: Before, the age range for the ABAWD work requirement was 18-54. Now it's 18-64. Other exemptions still do apply.
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Exemptions for Parents with Kids Under Age 14 (was 18): Before, you didn't have to meet the ABAWD work requirement if you had a child under 18. Now, this exemption has been limited to parents with a child under age 14.
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Removed Exemption for Veterans: Before, veterans did not have to meet the ABAWD work requirements. This exemption has been removed.
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Removed Exemption for People Experiencing Homelessness: Before, people experiencing homelessness did not have to meet the ABAWD work requirements. This exemption has been removed.
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Removed Exemption for People Formerly in Foster Care: Before, people that were age 24 or younger and were in foster care on their 18th birthday did not have to meet the ABAWD work requirements. This exemption has been removed.
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Added Exemption for Native Americans: American Indians and Alaska Natives are now exempt from the ABAWD work requirements.
If you don't meet ABAWD work requirements but need to, you are limited to three months of benefits every three years.
2. Future Benefits Won't Go Up As Much
Some changes in this bill won't affect current benefits, but will result in future benefits not going up as much as they otherwise would have.
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Decreased Future Benefits Updates: SNAP benefits, including the maximum SNAP benefit amount, are adjusted for inflation every year on October 1st, and will continue to increase matching inflation. However, in addition to inflation adjustments, there were other ways that SNAP benefit amounts were adjusted to support true costs of a healthy and budget-conscious diet. These additional methods for updating SNAP benefits have been limited, and are less likely to happen in the future (specifically, updating the Thrifty Food Plan).
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Internet Expenses Deduction Not Happening: Paying utilities makes a big difference in benefit calculations. The USDA Food and Nutrition Service had planned adding an option to get credit for internet expenses that will no longer happen.
3. Some Households Won't Be Able to Claim the Heating and Cooling Utility Expense
On our
SNAP calculator, you'll see that it currently says:
Which of the following utility bills do you pay?
Check utilities paid separately from your rent or mortgage. Also check "Heating and Cooling" if you received a payment over $20 from LIHEAP.
Being able to check the "Heating and Cooling" box can make a huge difference in SNAP benefits (often like $100/month). Some households who have their heating expenses included in their rent are still able to get this heating allowance (and check this box) by receiving a benefit from the LIHEAP program.
With the new changes to the bill, that last part, "Also check "Heating and Cooling" if you received a payment over $20 from LIHEAP" will only apply if there is someone over 60 or with a disability in the household.
Who does this affect?
This may lower your benefit amounts if all these apply:
- You do not pay a heating or cooling bill separate from your rent AND
- You do not have anyone over 60 or with a disability in your household AND
- You're currently receiving a LIHEAP benefit over $20 at least once per year (you might be currently getting $20.01 or $21 as cash on your EBT card)
This is more likely to affect households in:
- California
- Connecticut
- District of Columbia
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Montana
- New York
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- Washington
Want to learn more? Read our full analysis
here.
When will these changes take effect?
The utility changes appear to be generally taking effect on November 1st, with at least one state implementing the new rules earlier. The USDA released implementation guidance with a Nov 1 date here.
It appears most states are implementing the new work requirement rules by November 1st, which makes sense that it would align with the USDA utility guidance above. Some states appear to be implementing these rules a bit sooner, and some states may have separate timelines for those who are currently receiving SNAP as compared to new applicants. People who need to meet work requirements but don't can still receive SNAP for three months.
Separately, many states have existing ABAWD work requirement waivers, many of which would not be able to be approved under the new rules. It's unclear whether those waivers would remain active until they expire, or they would expire earlier than their original expiration date. Most of the current waivers appear to expire in 2025, with only a few extending past Feb 2026.
Other
There are more SNAP policy changes in the bill. You can read the full bill details here.
