CHICAGO (WLS) — Significant adjustments to SNAP eligibility have just been implemented.
Previously, Illinois had a waiver in place that eased work requirements for adults deemed able-bodied under the law, allowing them to receive SNAP benefits. However, this waiver has been revoked.
As of Sunday, this change could jeopardize the access to food for hundreds of thousands of residents across the state who rely on these benefits.
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At the newly established food pantry within West Garfield Park’s Legler Regional Public Library, SNAP recipient Vickie Seats expressed her concerns about the future of her and her husband’s food stamps.
“We depend on SNAP,” Seats stated. “It helps us put food on the table.”
She noted that although they both meet the criteria for the newly introduced work requirement exemptions, her husband’s recent disability has not been officially recognized yet.
“He has a mental illness now, which just came about, and we’re trying to get paperwork now,” Seats said. “They tell you it’s not going to be like 30 days. It could be 90 days. It could be 120 days. It’s nothing fast, but we need to eat every day.”
As part of last year’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” under the new law, “SNAP recipients who are 18 to 64, and parents without children younger than 14 will now be required to prove that they are working or volunteering for a total of 80 hours a month in order to keep their benefits.”
“For every month you don’t meet those work requirements, that’s a strike against you. And three strikes and you’re off SNAP in a three-year period,” Greater Chicago Food Depository Camerin Mattson said.
Previously under federal law, only adults aged 18 to 54 without dependents under age 18 had to meet those requirements. But because Illinois had a waiver, nobody had to.
Officials say up to 340,000 people are at risk. It’s why everyone currently on SNAP is being asked to make sure they check in with the Illinois Department of Human Services, to see if they qualify for an exemption, and if not, make sure their work information is up to date.
“It’s either working, volunteering or participating in a qualifying education program,” Mattson said. “If you’re going to meet these requirements by volunteering, let them know. That’s not something that SNAP participants have had to report in the past.”
And while food banks like the one at the Legler Library help, Matteson says they simply aren’t set up to fill such a large gap.
“SNAP is our nation’s frontline defense against hunger,” Mattson said. “For every meal we provide, SNAP provides nine.”
Nobody is losing their benefits as of Sunday. But, anybody who receives SNAP and does not get an exemption or does not meet the requirements by May 1, will do so.
It is why it’s very important that, if they haven’t done so yet, beneficiaries make sure their information is up to date as soon as possible.
To see a one-sheet on the SNAP requirement changes, click here.
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