Expanded SNAP work requirements now in effect in Idaho
LAURA GUIDO / Idaho Capital Sun | Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 2 hours, 36 minutes AGO
More Idahoans who receive federal food assistance may now be subject to work requirements under changes implemented this spring.
The federal “big beautiful” law passed last July expanded who would need to comply with work requirements to receive assistance from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. Idaho implemented the new requirements in April.
The expanded requirements could affect many veterans, people experiencing homelessness, parents of teenagers, and young people aging out of foster care in the program.
A spokesman for the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, which administers the program, said the changed requirements “went into effect as planned.”
IDHW spokesman AJ McWhorter said the agency doesn’t track people who are dropped from the program because they lose eligibility.
“So far, we haven’t seen anything unusual in our eligibility numbers,” he said in a June 11 email.
As of June 15, there are about 123,000 Idahoans receiving SNAP benefits, according to the Department of Health and Welfare.
Last June, there were 133,382 people using SNAP, according to a 2025 report from the agency. In January, there were 124,714 SNAP recipients, the Idaho Capital Sun previously reported.
How did the SNAP work requirements change?
To receive benefits for more than three months, most able-bodied SNAP recipients must work or volunteer at least 80 hours a month, participate in a work program at least 80 hours a month, participate in a combination of work and work program for a total of at least 80 hours a month, or participate in public “workfare” for assigned number of hours a month.
The expanded requirements implemented in April removed or narrowed the previous exemptions from this time limit. These changes include:
Removed of exemptions for veterans, those experiencing homelessness and youth aging out of foster care
Narrowed exception for parents with responsibility of children under 18 years old, to those of children under age 14
Increases of the upper age limit for the exception from 54 to 64 years old
The law also added time-limit exemptions for Native Americans, Alaska Natives and tribal members.