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Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
A Complete Guide to SNAP Benefits
Every new year involves reassessing your finances and reconfiguring how your monthly budget competes with your cost of living. It's also the time of year to re-up your SNAP application to make sure you and your household members receive benefits seamlessly. Consider This: For You: The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, is the largest federal nutrition assistance program from the Department of Health. Despite some political rumblings about changes being made, those who receive SNAP benefits should remain unaffected. If you are applying for SNAP in 2025, there may be a few adjustments to consider. Here are some key takeaways: To get SNAP benefits, you must apply in the state in which you currently live and you must meet certain requirements, including resource and income limits and SNAP income and resource limits are updated annually Income limits are determined by the federal poverty level and vary based on household size. This means your household's gross monthly income must be at or below 130% of the poverty line, and net monthly income must be at or below 100% of the poverty line. The 2025 Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLA) maximum allotment for a family of four in the 48 states, Washington D.C., Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands is $975. However, the maximum monthly allotments vary based on household size, as the maximum monthly benefit for a single person will be $292. Maximum allotments for a family of four range from $1,258 to $1,953 in Alaska. The maximum allotment for a family of four is $1,437 in Guam and $1,254 in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The maximum allotment for a family of four in Hawaii is $1,723. The minimum benefit for the 48 states and D.C. remains the same as last year at $23. The standard deduction for household sizes 1 through 3 is $204 a month for the 48 states and Washington, D.C. The asset limit for households is $3,000 for the 48 states and D.C., Alaska, Guam, Hawaii, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The asset limit for households where at least one person is age 60 or older, or is disabled, is $4,500 Keep reading to learn more about EBT cards, income limits, household total non-excluded income and more for SNAP in 2025. Read Next: The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) sets the eligibility requirements, with the size of a family's SNAP benefit based on its income and certain expenses. Keep in mind that much of the assessments are based around the poverty line; the poverty level is higher for bigger families and lower for smaller families, so amounts of SNAP benefits will vary. Here are some income eligibility requirements for benefits as a household's income and resources must meet these three criteria: Gross monthly income: Household income before any of the program's deductions are applied — generally must be at or below 130% of the poverty line. For example, for a family of three, the poverty line used to calculate SNAP benefits in the federal fiscal year 2025 is $2,152 a month, making 130% of the poverty line for a three-person family about $2,798 a month, or about $33,576 a year. Net income: (Net income meaning gross income minus allowable deductions) Household income after deductions are applied, must be at or below the poverty line. Assets: These must fall below certain limits. For instance, households without a member aged 60 or older or who has a disability must have assets of $3,000 or less, and households with such a member must have assets of $4,500 or less. The SNAP program and Food Stamps are one and the same. The SNAP program was previously called the Food Stamp Program, or simply Food Stamps, because of the books of stamps people would use to make purchases. Today, the stamps have been replaced by Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards, which look just like debit cards and are accepted in most grocery stores and at many other retailers that sell groceries, including Walmart, Target and Amazon. Food items that can be prepared at home are typically eligible for purchase with SNAP benefits. Food that is hot when sold and food that is sold to be eaten in the store are not eligible. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, these foods are eligible for SNAP: Fruits and vegetables Meat, poultry and fish Dairy products Breads and cereals Snack foods and non-alcoholic beverages Seeds and plants, which produce food for the household to eat Although SNAP is a federal program, benefits are administered by individual states. This means benefits are distributed inconsistently across the country. While eligibility requirements and benefit levels are uniform across all states except Alaska and Hawaii, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the way benefits are calculated can vary from one state to the next. Here's a general look at the maximum and minimum allotments in each state: For the 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the maximum allotment for a family of four is $975 per month. In Alaska, a family of four can receive between $1,258 to $1,953 per month, depending on their rural or urban designation. In Hawaii, the monthly limit is $1,723 for a family of four. Gabrielle Olya contributed to the reporting for this article. More From GOBankingRates I'm a Retired Boomer: 6 Bills I Canceled This Year That Were a Waste of Money This article originally appeared on A Complete Guide to SNAP Benefits Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump's ‘big, beautiful bill' faces fierce religious backlash
Donald Trump and the Republican Party are facing furious backlash from faith leaders and parishioners concerned about the devastating impact that their sought-after budget cuts are projected to have on many Americans. Trump, who has attempted to portray himself as anointed by God, is pushing for a highly unpopular bill that includes steep cuts to nutrition assistance and health care programs, along with tax cuts that would largely benefit the rich. And many literally ordained faith leaders are denouncing his goals. In a letter to U.S. senators last week, an interfaith coalition of religious leaders from across the country slammed how the bill could potentially strip health care and food benefits from millions of Americans, and for pursuing a mass deportation campaign that could ensnare some of their parishioners — a concern shared by MAGA-friendly leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention, as well. 'In our view, this legislation will harm the poor and vulnerable in our nation, to the detriment of the common good,' the coalition wrote. 'Its passage would be a moral failure for American society as a whole.' The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops sent a letter to senators on the same day, praising the bill for seeking to crack down on abortion but denouncing other parts of the legislation: We are grateful for provisions that promote the dignity of human life and support parental choice in education. These are commendable provisions that have long been sought by the Church. However, we must also urge you to make drastic changes to the provisions that will harm the poor and vulnerable. This bill raises taxes on the working poor while simultaneously giving large tax cuts to the wealthiest. Because of this, millions of poor families will not be able to afford life-saving healthcare and will struggle to buy food for their children. Some rural hospitals will likely close. Cuts will also result in harming our environment. The bishops also denounced the 'enforcement-only approach' to immigration in the Senate version of the bill, calling it 'unjust and fiscally unsustainable.' Meanwhile, Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., who is a Baptist pastor, helped illustrate the growing religious backlash against the legislation when he brought a contingent of faith leaders with him to pray in the Capitol rotunda on Sunday. The rotunda has been a site for faith-based resistance to the GOP's budget for weeks now. In April, the Rev. William Barber II was arrested there alongside fellow faith leaders Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove and Steven Swayne as they held a prayer in opposition to the legislation. (The arrests resulted in tickets.) Five other faith leaders were arrested there the following week for doing the same thing. At times, I think it may be easy for some to give in to MAGA's messianic propaganda that frames Trump — flawed as he is personally — as some sort of spokesperson for religious Americans. But there's a deep and enduring tradition of faith leaders standing up for liberalism and basic dignity in this country. And Trump's policies — perhaps, none more than his self-described 'big, beautiful bill' — are bringing that tradition to the fore. This article was originally published on
New York Times
28-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Republicans Lavish Alaska With Benefits in Policy Bill, Grasping for a Key Vote
When Senate Republicans released the latest version of their sprawling domestic policy package in the wee hours of Saturday morning, it contained a number of new provisions that might have seemed out of place — including a measure aimed at helping Alaskan whaling captains. But the seemingly random items were anything but arbitrary; they appeared to be aimed at winning the support of a critical Republican holdout whose vote could make or break the measure: Senator Lisa Murkowski. Ms. Murkowski has made no secret of her problems with her party's bill and the harm she believes it could bring to her state. Chief among her concerns were new work requirements for Medicaid recipients and a provision that would require states to pay for a share of nutrition assistance payments currently paid entirely by the federal government. 'I want to try to do what we can to address certain aspects of our entitlement spending,' Ms. Murkowski said in an interview last weekend on CBS. 'We've got to do that. But doing it with the most vulnerable bearing the brunt of that is not the answer.' As G.O.P. leaders scrounged on Saturday for the votes to pass the legislation, they seem to have addressed many of her concerns, insulating Ms. Murkowski's state from some of its most painful cuts while including an assortment of other Alaska-friendly provisions in the bill. The latest version, which leaders hoped to begin voting on as early as Saturday afternoon, would provide a new tax exemption to fishers from villages in western Alaska. There is now an exemption from new work requirements for food assistance. And several provisions have been added that would funnel federal dollars to Alaskan health care providers. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Local food bank worries what ‘big, beautiful bill' could mean for SNAP recipients
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Thousands of Western New Yorkers are at risk of getting their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits reduced or taken away entirely if a bill introduced by President Donald Trump's administration passes in the Senate. House Republicans have already passed the piece of legislation, which is titled 'One Big, Beautiful Bill.' The bill would cut federal funding for SNAP by about $267 billion over a 10-year period. For the first time, individual states would be expected to make up that gap. The New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) held a briefing Thursday morning, where it announced the total cost for New York State would be over $2 billion. The legislation also comes at a time when food insecurity is rising across the country. Local food banks, like FeedMore Western New York, thinks it could be a struggle to keep up. 'Over the last three years, we've seen a 46 percent increase,' said Collin Bishop, the chief communications officer at FeedMore WNY. 'We're already growing without any changes to SNAP'. Bishop said the number of people who are in need of nutritional assistance in our community continues to grow and that the proposed bill could make it worse. 'If we add to that, we're taking away people's ability to purchase food from the grocery store on their own,' Bishop said. 'That's just going to add more to this charitable organization.' ODTA said in Western New York, over 22,000 people are at risk of having reduced benefits or losing them completely. Republican leaders are working to pass the bill in the Senate. It would then go back to the House of Representatives to approve any changes before it ultimately reaches Trump's desk. Trina Catterson joined the News 4 team in 2024. She previously worked at WETM-TV in Elmira, a sister station of WIVB. See more of her work here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Washington Post
13-05-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
Proposed GOP cuts could jeopardize SNAP users, farmers and state budgets
The federal government has fully paid for benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program since it was first created in 1939 as a way to fight food insecurity amid the Great Depression. But now, Republicans in Congress are looking into forcing states to pay for 5 to 25 percent of SNAP funding in a move experts warn could force state governments to remove individuals from the food assistance program, leave local budgets with massive shortfalls and hurt the food producers and retailers that serve them.
