SNAP Work Requirement Elimination: Food Aid Access Expands for 6.1 Million People 180 Days After Enactment

The Improving Access to Nutrition Act of 2025 is about making sure people who need food assistance can actually get it. The core of this bill is simple: it completely wipes out the work requirement currently tied to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), often known as food stamps.

This isn't just a technical tweak; it’s a major shift in how the federal government approaches hunger. The bill’s findings lay out the stark reality: before the pandemic, 35 million people were food insecure, and that number is disproportionately higher among Black and Hispanic households. Crucially, the bill cites studies showing that these work requirements don't actually reduce poverty, but instead act as bureaucratic hurdles that cause vulnerable people—including those with health issues or who are experiencing homelessness—to lose their benefits.

The End of the SNAP Work Rule

What’s the change? Section 3 of the Act strikes out subsection (o) from Section 6 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008. That small subsection was the entire legal basis for the SNAP work requirement. By deleting it, the requirement is gone. The bill then goes through several pages of “conforming amendments” (think of it as digital cleanup) across various federal laws, including the Internal Revenue Code and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, ensuring that every reference to the old work rule is scrubbed.

For the millions of people currently subject to these rules—about 6.1 million individuals, according to the bill’s findings—this change means they no longer have to worry about losing their essential food aid if they can't log enough work or training hours. Imagine a single parent battling a chronic illness who struggles to maintain full-time employment; this bill removes the threat of losing food for their kids due to their health struggles. For families experiencing homelessness, who are often the first to drop out of SNAP due to the complexity of the work rules, this change offers a much-needed lifeline.

Why This Matters Beyond the Grocery Store

This legislation isn’t just about making the rules easier; it’s about recognizing that SNAP is a vital economic and educational tool. The bill highlights that every dollar spent on SNAP benefits generates up to $1.80 in economic activity, which is good for local businesses. Furthermore, it points out that when children in poverty receive consistent SNAP benefits, they show better outcomes in school, including higher math and reading scores.

By removing the work requirement barrier, the bill aims to stabilize access to food, which in turn supports better health and better educational outcomes—a long-term investment in the workforce of tomorrow.

The Timeline: Six Months to Get Ready

If this bill becomes law, the changes won't happen overnight. Section 4 sets the effective date at 180 days after enactment. This six-month window gives the agencies that run SNAP—both at the federal and state levels—time to update their systems, remove the reporting requirements, and notify recipients of the new, simplified rules. While the transition should be smooth given the clear language, it’s a significant administrative lift to update all the laws referenced in Section 3 simultaneously.