The Implementation Timeline of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

Harsher SNAP paperwork requirements go into effect for families with children ages 14 and above, older Americans (ages 55 to 64), former foster youth, veterans, and homeless people. Alaska and Hawaii will have additional flexibility that enables them to request work requirement exemptions until December 31, 2028.

States will likely not implement this provision until they receive guidance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food and Nutrition Service.

Removes SNAP eligibility for immigrants who are not legal permanent residents, those granted the status of Cuban and Haitian entrant, or Compacts of Free Association migrants. This excludes lawfully present refugees, asylees, and people granted withholding of removal.

States will likely not implement this provision until they receive guidance from USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service.

Only allows states to choose to pursue a waiver if the Food and Nutrition Service determines an area of the state has an unemployment rate of more than 10 percent. Alaska and Hawaii will have additional flexibility, which will allow residents of the waiver area to be eligible if the unemployment rate is at or above 1.5 times the national rate.

States will likely not implement this provision until they receive guidance from USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service.

Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program payments will no longer automatically qualify households for a Standard Utility Allowance (SUA) if they do not have an elderly or disabled member, cutting SNAP benefits by an estimated $100 per month for those who receive energy assistance.

States will likely not implement this provision until they receive guidance from USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service.

SNAP-Ed partners with state and local organizations to provide nutrition education and promote physically active lifestyles. Defunding the program will effectively eliminate it.

The next TFP reevaluation will be delayed from fiscal year 2027 to fiscal year 2028 at the earliest, and it will be required to remain cost-neutral, with the only allowable increase coming from annual inflation adjustments. This will freeze benefit amounts for recipients by eliminating the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) ability to adjust the cost of the TFP to reflect the cost of a healthy diet.

Administrative cost share increases to 75 percent for states, raising states’ administrative costs by tens or hundreds of millions of dollars each year.

For the first time, states will pay for up to 15 percent of SNAP benefits based on payment error rates, resulting in states shouldering tens or hundreds of millions of dollars in program costs each year. States with error rates greater than 13.33 percent for fiscal years 2025 and 2026 may delay implementation until October 1, 2028, or until October 1, 2029, respectively.