Title IV Explainer: SNAP Eligibility, Work Rules, Thrifty Food Plan

TL;DR: Title IV of H.R. 7567 makes sweeping changes to SNAP by raising the age ceiling for able-bodied adult work requirements from 49 to 54, adding a new work-requirement category for adults with older dependents, capping the Thrifty Food Plan benefit calculation, and restricting categorical eligibility. Roughly 42 million current SNAP participants could be affected.

Key takeaway

H.R. 7567 reverses the 2021 Thrifty Food Plan update that raised SNAP benefits by roughly 21 percent and simultaneously expands who must meet work requirements to keep their benefits.

What this section does

Title IV of H.R. 7567 governs the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, covering who qualifies, what dollar amounts households receive, and what work or activity conditions attach to eligibility. The title rewrites several foundational rules that have been in place since the 2018 Farm Bill, making it one of the most contested portions of the legislation.

The most debated change is the expansion of work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents, known as ABAWDs. Under current law, the ABAWD age ceiling is 49. H.R. 7567 raises that ceiling to 54, pulling more working-age adults into the category of people who must work, train, or volunteer a minimum number of hours per month to retain SNAP eligibility.

The bill also creates an entirely new category: able-bodied adults with dependents (ABADs). Adults in this category become subject to work-participation requirements if their dependents are above a specified age threshold. The exact age cutoff is to be confirmed from final bill text. This is a structural change with no precedent in the 2018 Farm Bill, which did not impose work or activity requirements on adults with dependents.

Additional provisions tighten eligibility in several other directions:

• Categorical eligibility narrowed. Broad categorical eligibility, which allows states to extend SNAP to households that receive a non-cash TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) benefit, is eliminated or significantly restricted. An estimated several million households currently use this pathway to qualify.
• Thrifty Food Plan capped. The Thrifty Food Plan (TFP), the federal market basket that sets maximum SNAP allotments, is prohibited from being updated in a way that increases benefit costs above a CPI-adjusted baseline. This effectively constrains or reverses the 2021 administrative reevaluation that raised maximum benefits by roughly 21 percent.
• State waiver authority narrowed. States can currently seek waivers from ABAWD work requirements for geographic areas with high unemployment. H.R. 7567 tightens the statutory criteria a state must meet to obtain such a waiver, reducing the flexibility states relied on under the 2018 framework.
• Utility allowances standardized. Standard utility allowances, which factor into benefit calculations, are subject to new federal standardization rules that limit state flexibility in setting those allowances. The 2018 bill did not include this federal constraint.
• Student eligibility tightened. Exemptions that allowed certain higher-education students to qualify for SNAP are restricted, reducing the number of college students who can access benefits.

What it means

The combined effect of these provisions is a narrowing of both who qualifies for SNAP and how much qualifying households can receive. Approximately 42 million people currently participate in SNAP, according to recent USDA data. The lowest-income and working-age adults without stable employment are most exposed to the work-requirement changes.

For households that access SNAP through broad categorical eligibility, the bill's restrictions represent a potential loss of eligibility entirely, not merely a reduction in benefit amount. College students who relied on existing exemptions face a similar risk. Families with older children may find themselves newly subject to the ABAD work-participation rules, depending on where the final age cutoff lands.

State SNAP administrators face new compliance burdens. Tracking work-participation requirements for the expanded ABAWD population and the newly created ABAD category requires administrative infrastructure that many state agencies will need to build or significantly expand. Advocates argue that administrative churn, meaning households being cut due to paperwork failures rather than ineligibility, will drive most coverage losses in practice.

Grocery retailers, food banks, and anti-hunger nonprofits face downstream effects if total SNAP purchasing power declines as a result of the TFP cap and eligibility restrictions. SNAP benefits function as immediate consumer spending in local economies, so aggregate reductions ripple through rural and urban food retail alike. For a full comparison of how these changes stack up against the 2018 bill, see the what's new vs. 2018 summary.

What's next

As of 2026-05-15, H.R. 7567 has passed the House but faces an uncertain path in the Senate. Senate Agriculture Committee members from both parties have historically resisted the steepest SNAP cuts in House-passed farm bills, and the Senate's version of Title IV is expected to differ materially from the House text. See the Senate status page for current developments.

If the bill becomes law in its current form, USDA will need to issue rulemaking on several unresolved implementation questions, including the definition of qualifying work activities for the new ABAD category, verification standards, and state reporting requirements. The timeline and scope of that rulemaking are unresolved as of this writing.

Legal challenges to the TFP methodology cap are widely anticipated. Critics argue that the 2018 Farm Bill granted USDA affirmative authority to update the Thrifty Food Plan based on current nutritional science, and that a statutory cap on that authority conflicts with that grant. The confirmed 10-year CBO savings figure for the combined Title IV provisions is to be confirmed from the official score.

Frequently asked questions

Does this bill cut my SNAP benefits directly, or does it change who qualifies?

It does both. The Thrifty Food Plan cap limits future benefit increases and effectively rolls back the roughly 21 percent raise that took effect in 2021, reducing maximum allotments from where they currently stand. Separately, the work-requirement expansions and categorical eligibility restrictions change who qualifies for any benefits at all. Some households may lose eligibility entirely while others may see smaller monthly amounts.

What counts as a qualifying work activity under the new rules?

The bill preserves the general framework of work, job training, and community service as qualifying activities, consistent with existing ABAWD rules. However, the specific definitions for the new ABAD category are subject to USDA rulemaking that has not yet occurred as of 2026-05-15. The exact age cutoff for dependents that triggers ABAD status is also to be confirmed from the final bill text.

If I live in an area with high unemployment, can my state still get a waiver?

States can still apply for geographic waivers from ABAWD work requirements for high-unemployment areas, but H.R. 7567 tightens the statutory criteria a state must meet. The flexibility states used under the 2018 Farm Bill and subsequent USDA rulemaking is narrowed, meaning some areas that qualified for waivers under current rules may not qualify under the new standards.

Why is the Thrifty Food Plan controversial, and what does it have to do with my benefit amount?

The Thrifty Food Plan is the federal market basket USDA uses to set the maximum SNAP benefit for a reference household. In 2021, USDA updated the plan using current nutritional science and food price data, raising maximum benefits by roughly 21 percent. H.R. 7567 prohibits future TFP updates from exceeding a CPI-adjusted baseline, which caps or reverses that increase. Critics say this freezes benefits at a level that does not reflect actual food costs.

Does this affect families with children, or only single adults?

The bill affects both. The new ABAD (able-bodied adult with dependents) category specifically targets adults in families, making them subject to work-participation requirements if their children or other dependents are above a specified age. This is a significant departure from the 2018 Farm Bill, which applied work requirements only to adults without dependents. Families whose children exceed the age threshold, once confirmed, could face new conditions on their eligibility.

Can college students still get SNAP under this bill?

Fewer college students will be able to qualify. H.R. 7567 tightens the student eligibility exemptions that allowed certain higher-education students to access SNAP, moving in the direction of more restrictive pre-2018 rules. Students who currently qualify through job-training program exemptions are among those most likely to be affected, though the precise scope depends on final bill text and any subsequent USDA rulemaking.

Sources

• House Agriculture Committee -- Committee report and markup materials on H.R. 7567 Title IV provisions, 2026.
• Congressional Research Service -- CRS analysis of SNAP eligibility changes and 2018-vs-2026 comparisons.