Sponsors (9)
The bill expands and stabilizes SNAP access—improving food security, child health/education, equity, and local economic support—while trading off higher federal costs and a reduced administrative tool for linking benefit recipients to job and training programs.
Low-income households (including parents and children) will have more reliable access to SNAP benefits because work-test denials are eliminated, reducing disruptions to food assistance for a large share of recipients.
Children in affected households will experience more stable nutrition and household food security (which supports health and development) because parental benefits will no longer be lost for failing work tests.
Removing the work-test helps reduce racially disparate harms to Black, Hispanic, Native, and homeless households by preventing disproportionate benefit losses among those groups.
Eliminating the work test could modestly increase SNAP caseloads and federal program costs, raising fiscal pressure on taxpayers and the federal budget.
Removing work requirements may reduce incentives for some recipients to engage in job-search, training, or other employment activities, potentially lowering labor-market attachment for that subset.
States may lose a policy tool (work-participation rules) they used to refer recipients to workforce programs and employment supports, which could reduce referrals and coordination with job services.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Removes the federal SNAP work requirement and updates related statutory cross-references in SNAP, tax, and workforce laws, effective 180 days after enactment.
Introduced May 6, 2025 by Peter Welch · Last progress May 6, 2025
Removes the federal SNAP work requirement by striking the statutory provision that imposed work/search/training conditions for certain adult SNAP recipients and updates multiple cross-references in SNAP law, the tax code, and workforce statutes to reflect that removal. The act includes congressional findings about hunger and racial disparities and takes effect 180 days after enactment.