Public Law 119-21, enacted in July 2025, changes who may qualify for SNAP, how benefits are calculated, and how federal and state governments share program costs. The Congressional Budget Office projects that the changes will reduce primary deficits by $187 billion over fiscal years 2025–2034 compared with its January 2025 baseline; that is a forecast, not savings already realized, and it does not by itself show how households or states will fare.
What changed in SNAP under the new law?
The law changes several different parts of the program rather than making one uniform cut. USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) describes changes to eligibility, work rules, benefit calculations, state financing and program administration. Their effects depend on which rule applies to a household and how states respond.
| Policy area | Change under Public Law 119-21 | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Work rules | Expanded work requirements | Some people who previously qualified may face additional work-related conditions. CBO includes expanded requirements among the reasons it projects fewer participants. |
| Noncitizen eligibility | Restrictions on eligibility based on citizenship and immigration status | Eligibility may change for some noncitizens; the available summaries do not specify every affected category or individual case. |
| Benefit formula | Limits on future Thrifty Food Plan reevaluations and changes to certain income deductions | These provisions constrain potential increases to maximum benefits and can affect the income counted when benefits are calculated. |
| Household deductions | Changes to standard utility allowances and the excess shelter deduction | Allowable deductions can affect a household’s calculated net income and, in turn, its benefit amount. |
| Benefit financing | Beginning in 2028, states with payment error rates of at least 6 percent must pay a share of benefit costs | States face a new financial incentive to control payment errors, as well as a new expense whose effects may depend on their budget choices. |
| Administrative financing | The state share of administrative costs rises from 50 percent to 75 percent | States must fund a larger portion of the cost of running SNAP. |
| Nutrition education | Federal SNAP-Ed funding is eliminated | The law ends federal funding for this nutrition education component. |
The table summarizes enacted provisions identified by USDA ERS in 2026. It does not mean that every listed change affects every recipient in the same way. SNAP eligibility generally depends on household income, allowable deductions and assets; benefit amounts are based on household circumstances, with lower-income households generally receiving more up to a maximum.
How SNAP works—and why benefit calculations matter
SNAP provides food benefits to low-income households, delivered electronically through EBT. Benefits generally can be used for most foods intended for home preparation, but not for items such as alcohol, tobacco or nonfood products. The maximum benefit is tied to USDA’s Thrifty Food Plan, a model market basket for a minimal-cost nutritious diet. Maximums differ in Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands; they are uniform across the contiguous United States.
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Changes to the benefit formula can affect assistance without changing the headline maximum for every household. For example, a deduction affects the income used in a benefit calculation, while a limit on future Thrifty Food Plan reevaluations can constrain future adjustments to the maximum. USDA ERS describes the law’s changes to utility allowances and the excess shelter deduction; CBO says changes to certain deductions and a cap on maximum benefit increases contribute to lower projected benefits. The agency summaries do not establish an identical dollar reduction for all households.
How much will the SNAP changes save?
CBO’s 2026 estimate is a $187 billion reduction in primary deficits over fiscal years 2025–2034 from the SNAP changes in the enacted 2025 reconciliation act, measured against CBO’s January 2025 baseline. This is a projected federal budget effect over a ten-year period, not a report of money already saved, a reduction in any one year’s spending, or a calculation of the financial effect on a particular household.
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CBO attributes the projection to several mechanisms: expanded work requirements, restrictions tied to citizenship and immigration status, changes to benefit calculations, and changes to administration and financing. It projects fewer people receiving benefits and lower benefit amounts. CBO also assesses that the act slightly increases work incentives, largely through expanded requirements. These are budget and participation projections, not observed outcomes or proof of the law’s overall effect on household well-being.
Why other CBO figures should not be substituted
A separate CBO dynamic analysis published June 23, 2025, examined H.R. 1 as it was then under consideration—not the later enacted SNAP provisions estimated in CBO’s 2026 outlook. For Subtitle A of Title I, that analysis reported a $287 billion federal spending reduction over 2025–2034 under its stated exclusions and accounting assumptions. Its dynamic calculations reported $309 billion in deficit reduction with one form of budgetary feedback, and $353 billion when lower interest payments from reduced borrowing needs were also included. Those figures use a different bill version, scope and accounting approach; they are not alternative estimates of the enacted SNAP changes and should not be compared as though they measure the same thing.
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Who may face new work requirements or eligibility limits?
Expanded work requirements and noncitizen eligibility restrictions are two distinct routes by which the law may change access to SNAP. CBO identifies both as contributors to its projected decrease in participation. The reviewed agency summaries do not establish every affected age group, exemption, waiver, or immigration-status category, so a broad claim that all adults or all noncitizens are subject to the same rule would go beyond what they document.
For an individual household, the practical question is how the applicable eligibility rules interact with its circumstances and how the state administers them. A change in eligibility rules does not mean that every current participant will lose benefits. Households facing a renewal or eligibility decision should rely on notices and guidance from their state SNAP agency rather than infer their status from a national budget estimate.
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What happens when states have to pay more?
Before the new benefit cost-sharing provision, the federal government paid the full cost of SNAP benefits. Under the enacted law, states with payment error rates of at least 6 percent must begin paying a share starting in 2028. Separately, the state share of administrative costs rises from 50 percent to 75 percent. The two changes affect different expenses: benefit payments and program administration.
CBO expects states to respond differently to those costs. Some may maintain existing eligibility and benefit policies; others may change program policies or leave the program. These are possible responses in CBO’s projection, not settled state decisions. The resulting effect on a household could therefore depend not only on federal rules but also on a state’s fiscal and administrative choices. The available estimates do not establish which states will take which path or the resulting state-by-state changes in participation.
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Payment error rates matter because they determine whether a state faces the new benefit-cost obligation. The term refers to errors identified in program payments, not a direct measure of whether a household is eligible or whether a recipient has acted improperly. The law’s financial consequence for a state and the household-level eligibility decision are separate issues.
What do the program’s scale and the savings estimate tell us?
SNAP remains a major federal nutrition program. USDA ERS reports an average of 42.1 million participants per month in fiscal year 2025 and $101.7 billion in federal cost for that fiscal year; ERS says SNAP accounted for 69 percent of USDA nutrition assistance spending in FY 2025. Those figures describe the program before the full effects of the enacted changes can be observed. They should not be read as a forecast of future participation or cost.
The $187 billion CBO projection and ERS’s FY 2025 program figures answer different questions: one estimates future deficit reduction relative to a baseline, while the others describe recent program scale and expense. None alone establishes the net effect on food access, state budgets, administrative capacity or household finances. Evaluating those outcomes will require later evidence on state implementation and actual participation and benefits.
What households and states should watch next
- Households: Pay attention to state agency notices about eligibility, renewals, work rules and benefit calculations. National projections cannot determine an individual case.
- States: Their payment error rates, administrative budgets and policy decisions will shape how the new cost-sharing requirements translate into implementation.
- Readers assessing the law: Separate enacted provisions from projections and later observed results. A projected decline in federal spending is not, by itself, evidence of the law’s full effect on recipients or state finances.
The Congressional Research Service’s report on SNAP in the House-passed H.R. 1 concerns the bill as passed on May 22, 2025, before enactment in July. It can explain the legislative history, but it is not a complete account of the final law. For enacted-law descriptions, USDA ERS’s 2026 summary and CBO’s 2026 outlook reflect the later version.
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