Alejandro Santillan Garcia fears losing the assistance that allows him to buy food.
The 20-year-old Austin resident qualified for federal food stamps last year because he left Texas’ foster care system, which he entered as a child.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — known as SNAP, or food stamps — helps feed the country’s 42 million low-income people. Now, given changes to the law that Republicans call the “Big Beautiful Bill,” Santillan Garcia may soon have to show authorities that he is working to preserve that advantage.
He said he lost his last job because he missed work to go to the doctor to treat recurring stomach infections. He doesn’t have a car and has applied for jobs at supermarkets, Walmart, Dollar General, “anywhere you can think of” he can walk or bike to.
“No job would hire me.”
Under the new federal budget law, more people must prove they work, volunteer or study to be eligible for SNAP.
Those who do not submit documents on time risk losing food aid for up to three years.
States were initially instructed to begin counting participants’ “absences” starting on Nov. 1, the same day that millions of people saw their SNAP benefits cut because of the Donald Trump administration’s refusal to fund the program during the government shutdown.
However, federal authorities reversed course in the middle of that month and gave states until December to implement the new rules.
The law also places additional restrictions on when states and counties with high unemployment rates can exempt beneficiaries from these requirements. But the legal battle over the provision means that deadlines for complying with the new rules vary depending on where a person lives, even within the same state in some cases.
The USDA did not respond to a detailed list of questions about how it would implement the new SNAP rules, and the White House also did not respond to a request for comment about whether these rules could leave people who depend on them out of the program.
The law extended exemptions to many members of Native American nations.
However, countries must comply with the new rules or face penalties that could force them to cover more of the program’s costs, which last year amounted to about $100 billion.
President Trump signed this massive budget bill, along with new SNAP requirements, on July 4. According to Chloe Green, deputy director of the American Public Human Services Association, which advises states on federal programs, states initially estimated they would need at least 12 months to implement changes of this magnitude.
Under the law, “able-bodied” individuals subject to work requirements can lose access to benefits for three years if they go three months without submitting documentation showing their hours worked.
Depending on when states implement the rules, many people could start being excluded from the program early next year, said Lauren Power, an economics fellow at the Brookings Institution. These changes are expected to exclude at least 2.4 million people from SNAP over the next decade, according to the SNAP report. Congressional Budget Office.
“It’s very difficult to work if you’re hungry,” Bauer said.
Many adult SNAP recipients under age 55 had to meet work requirements before the budget bill was signed into law.
Now, for the first time, people ages 55 to 64, and parents whose children are 14 or older, must document at least 80 hours a month of work or other valid activities.
The new law also eliminates exemptions that have applied since 2023 to veterans, the homeless and youth who have left the foster care system, like Santillan Garcia.
Republican politicians said these new rules are part of a broader effort to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse in public assistance programs.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in November that in addition to enforcing the law, she would ask millions of people to reapply for benefits to reduce fraud, though she did not elaborate. in Interview with NewsmaxRollins said he wants to make sure SNAP benefits only reach those who are “vulnerable” and “cannot survive without it.”
Green explained that states are required to notify people that they will undergo changes to their benefits before cutting them off. Some states announce the changes on their websites or via mail, but many don’t give recipients enough time to catch up.
Hunger advocates fear that these changes, and the confusion they create, will increase the number of people facing food insecurity. This year, food banks reported record numbers of people seeking help.
Even when they meet work requirements, many people face difficulties uploading documents and requiring states to process their benefits through cumbersome systems.
in Survey conducted by the Urban Instituteabout 1 in 8 adults said they lost food benefits due to problems submitting documents. Some were laid off due to state errors or staff shortages.
Pat Scott, an outreach worker at the Beaverhead Resource Assistance Center in rural Dillon, Montana, is at least an hour away helping people access public assistance, including seniors without reliable transportation, at least an hour away. But the center is only open once a week, and Scott says he’s seen people lose coverage because of problems with the state’s online portal.
John Ebelt, spokesman for the Montana Department of Health, said the state is constantly working to improve its programs. He added that although some rules have changed, there is already a system in place for reporting compliance with work requirements.
In Missoula, Montana, Jill Bonney, director of the Poverello Center shelter, explained that her homeless clients already face significant challenges in applying for assistance: They often lose their documents amid the daily challenge of carrying all their belongings.
Bonney said she’s also concerned that the federal changes could lead to more seniors becoming homeless if they lose SNAP benefits and have to choose between paying rent or buying food.
In the United States, people age 50 or older The fastest growing group Among the homeless population, according to federal data.
Sharon Curnow, executive director of St. Mary’s Center, an organization that supports homeless seniors in Oakland, California, said the new rules create a lack of trust. “This is not normal. We are not playing by the same old rules,” Curnow said of the federal changes. “It is a punitive and malicious measure.”
In early November, a federal judge in Rhode Island ordered the Trump administration to hand over full SNAP payments during the government shutdown, which ended on November 12.
The same judge tried to stop some of the new work requirements. The government was ordered to respect existing agreements that exempt some people from work requirements in some states and provinces until those agreements expire. In total, 28 states and the District of Columbia have obtained these waivers, with varying expiration dates.
Complicating the situation, some states, like New Mexico, have waivers that mean people in different counties must follow the rules at different times.
If states don’t properly document SNAP recipients’ work status, they will have to pay later, Green explained. Under the new law, states must for the first time cover part of the cost of food, and the amount will depend on how accurately the benefits are calculated.
During the government shutdown, when no one was getting SNAP benefits, Santillan Garcia and his girlfriend relied on supermarket gift cards given to them by a nonprofit to feed his girlfriend’s child. To eat on their own, they turned to a food bank, even though many products, such as dairy, harm Santillan Garcia.
She worries she’ll be in the same position again in February when she has to renew her benefits — now without the exemption for young people who have left the foster care system. Texas authorities haven’t yet told you what you need to do to continue receiving SNAP.
Santillan Garcia said she prays that if she can’t find work, she can find another way to remain eligible and keep her benefits.
“They’ll probably take them from me,” he said.
What you should know
Changes to SNAP eliminated exemptions from work requirements for:
- People between the ages of 55 and 64
- Carers of children under 14 years of age and over
- Veterans
- Homeless people
- Youth up to age 24 who have left the foster care system
What SNAP recipients should do
- Check with public assistance organizations to find out when new rules go into effect in your area. They may review these at the time of recertification, but you may be required to meet monthly work requirements much sooner.
- Notify your state if you are responsible for a child under 14 living in your home; pregnant; Study at least part-time; Attends an alcohol or drug treatment program; You have a physical or mental condition that prevents you from working; is an indigenous person; Or take care of a disabled family member. If you meet any of these criteria, you may still be exempt.