June 1 marked the start of new eligibility requirements for Americans enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The working families tax cuts strengthened the long-term viability of SNAP by requiring able-bodied adults to meet modest work requirements to retain their benefits — with clear exemptions for vulnerable populations. These commonsense reforms protect taxpayer dollars and restore public trust to a system plagued by waste and abuse.
SNAP has ballooned far beyond its original purpose, as enrollment no longer shrinks as much as it should when the economy recovers from a downturn. The rolls of any targeted safety net should expand and contract in response to fluctuating macroeconomic conditions. Instead, even after the economy recovered from COVID-19, loosened eligibility standards kept caseloads near record levels. By 2025, nearly 42 million people remained enrolled, and spending that fiscal year was a whopping 73% higher than in 2019.
No more free rides. Able-bodied adults between the ages of 18 and 64 will now have to spend a minimum of 20 hours a week volunteering, working, or attending school.
In an election year, narratives of destitute seniors and people with disabilities being forced to work for access to food stamps make for compelling soundbites. However, these lies are nothing more than campaign-season theatrics meant to distract voters from long-overdue adjustments that reprioritize a key safety-net program for the truly needy. Parents with young children, seniors, and disabled individuals face no work requirements whatsoever.
Portraying these measures as punitive cuts to food assistance is simply laughable. Even after the reforms take full effect, federal and state spending on food stamps will reach nearly $1 trillion over the next decade. In fact, federal spending on food stamps through 2034 is still projected to run hundreds of billions of dollars above the Congressional Budget Office’s forecasts before the Biden administration expanded SNAP during the pandemic.
On paper, federal law going back decades has required able-bodied adults without dependents to work, study, or volunteer at least part-time to remain enrolled in SNAP. In practice, many states have resorted to clever gimmicks such as manipulating local economic data to secure waivers and bypass federal rules altogether. As of 2025, government reports indicate that only 28% of these adults have earned income.
Cracking down on these state-level tricks is a long-overdue adjustment that ensures welfare does not devolve into a replacement for work. At a time when the economy still suffers from a subdued labor force participation rate in the wake of the pandemic, making sure federal work requirements are actually enforced for a change will inject much-needed dynamism into the job market.
The introduction of state cost-sharing is another welcome reform that will reduce payment mistakes. Previously, the federal government funded the full cost of food stamp benefits. However, since states actually administer payments, this funding structure created a moral hazard whereby states faced no financial consequences for mistakes such as overpayments. It’s no surprise that, from 2003 to 2022, improper payments totaled more than $45 billion.
Giving states a stake in SNAP’s funding is exactly the kind of practical, good-government measure that incentivizes the prudent stewardship of taxpayer dollars. States will now have to cover a share of benefits costs based on their improper payment rate. For example, if a state’s error rate exceeds 10%, it will be liable for 15% of the total cost of benefits.
WORKING FAMILIES TAX CUTS ARE A BEACON FOR MAIN STREET AMERICA
Unfortunately, less than a year after these sensible payment fixes were enacted, the Senate is already considering delaying their implementation by a couple of years. Postponing rules that hold local bureaucrats accountable may be considered shrewd politics during an election year. Yet, with a national debt that recently eclipsed $39 trillion, relenting on these reforms amounts to a betrayal of taxpayers.
SNAP was created as a temporary lifeline for individuals falling on hard times. It was never intended to function as a permanent entitlement that keeps millions of prime-age Americans dependent on government. Flawed incentives have allowed this program to grow out of control, and the working families tax cuts take necessary steps to realign SNAP with its intended purpose of serving the truly needy.
Alexander Ciccone is the policy and government affairs manager for the National Taxpayers Union.