Work requirements are kicking in for more older adults and parents of teenagers across the U.S. who get help with groceries through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
The implementation dates vary by state: In some, people could lose benefits as soon as Sunday if they can’t show they’re working but many people have a month or more before their benefits are at risk.
Here's what to know about the changes.
A massive tax and spending bill signed into law in July by President Donald Trump expanded requirements for many adult SNAP recipients to work, volunteer or participate in job training for at least 80 hours a month. Those who don’t are limited to three months of benefits in a three-year period.
The work requirements previously applied to adults ages 18 through 54 who are physically and mentally able to work and don’t have dependents under age 18. The new law applies those requirements to those ages 55 through 64 and to parents without children younger than 14. It repeals work exemptions for homeless individuals, veterans and young adults aging out of foster care. And it limits the ability of states to waive work requirements in areas lacking jobs.
The new requirements are expected to reduce the average monthly number of SNAP recipients by about 2.4 million people over the next 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
When the requirements kick in depends on the state.
Texas started its requirement in October, so people there could have exhausted their three months of benefits by Jan. 1 and already been removed from the rolls.
Several states started the three-month clock in November, opening the possibility of people losing benefits in coming days. Among them are Alaska, Colorado, Georgia and Hawaii.
The requirements take effect Sunday in other states, including Illinois and Ohio. In those places, people could lose benefits in May. Ohio says people will have to show documentation of work starting in March.
Some states have exemptions because of relatively high unemployment rates, either statewide or in certain regions, that let them delay implementation. California's waiver is scheduled to be in place until January 2027.
But most of those have ended or will soon. For most of New York, the work requirement is to start in March. But it began in October in Saratoga County.
About 42 million people — or 1 in 8 Americans — receive the benefits. The majority are in households that have incomes below the poverty line, which is about $33,000 for a family of four.
An analysis from the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that about 3 in 5 people who benefit from SNAP are in families with children and more than 1 in 3 are in households with older adults or people with disabilities. Nearly 2 in 5 people are in households that include someone with a job.
The average benefit per person is about $190 per month.
The work requirement isn't the only change to coming to SNAP.
Starting in October, states will be required to cover three-fourths of the administrative costs. Currently, state and federal governments divide the states' cost of running the program roughly equally. In late 2027, states with higher error rates in payments will be required to cover some of the benefit costs.
FILE - A customer walks past an EBT payment sign posted on the front window of a grocery store in Philadelphia, Oct. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
BELZONI, Miss. (AP) — As tens of thousands of people endured nearly a week with no electricity, another storm loomed on the East Coast where residents braced for near-hurricane force winds, heavy snow and potential flooding.
More than 230,000 homes and businesses were without electricity Friday, with the vast majority of those outages in Mississippi and Tennessee, according to the outage tracking website poweroutage.us.
In Mississippi’s Lafayette County, where about 12,000 people were still without electricity mid-day Friday, emergency management agency spokesperson Beau Moore said he knows not everyone will get power back before the cold hits.
“It’s a race against time to get it on for those we can get it on for,” Moore said.
Workers are attacking the project by ground and air. A video on the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Facebook page shows a worker sitting on the skids of a hovering helicopter so they can repair a giant power structure.
Arctic air moving into the Southeast will cause already frigid temperatures to plummet into the teens (minus 10 Celsius) on Friday night in cities like Nashville, Tennessee, where many still lacked power nearly a week after a massive storm dumped snow and ice across the eastern U.S., the National Weather Service said.
Forecasters say the subfreezing weather will persist in the eastern U.S. into February and there’s high chance of heavy snow in the Carolinas, Virginia and northeast Georgia this weekend, possibly up to a foot (30 centimeters) in parts of North Carolina. Snow is also possible along the East Coast from Maryland to Maine.
On Saturday night and early Sunday, forecasters expect wind and snow that could lead to blizzard conditions before the storm starts to move to sea.
Several inches of snow, possibly 1 foot (30.5 centimeters) in some locations, were forecast statewide, particularly in eastern counties.
Hundreds of state National Guard soldiers were ready to help. State workers have also been preparing roads.
In Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, a town more accustomed to hurricanes, traffic jams and tourists, the National Weather Service predicted 6 inches (15 centimeters) of snow.
The city has no snow removal equipment. Mayor Mark Kruea said they will “use what we can find” — maybe a motor grader or bulldozer to scrape streets.
“With a hurricane you can storm proof many things," Kruea said Friday. "But at a place like this, there is only a few things you can do to get ready for snow."
In Wake Forest, North Carolina, people filled propane tanks Friday at Holding Oil and Gas, where employee Stanley Harris disconnected one tank, set it aside with a clank and then hooked up another.
In Dare County to the east, home to much of North Carolina’s Outer Banks, longtime resident Bob Woodard said he's worried about that more unoccupied houses in communities like Rodanthe and Buxton could collapse into the Atlantic Ocean.
With the wave of dangerous cold heading for the South, experts say the risk of hypothermia heightens for people in parts of Mississippi and Tennessee who are entering their sixth day trapped at home without power in subfreezing temperatures.
“The body can handle cold temperatures briefly very well, but the prolonged exposure is a problem,” said Dr. Hans House, University of Iowa professor of emergency medicine.
People who are more vulnerable — the elderly, infants and those with underlying health conditions — may have started experiencing hypothermia symptoms within hours of exposure to the frigid temperatures, explained Dr. Zheng Ben Ma, medical director of the University of Washington Medical Center’s northwest emergency department. That can include exhaustion, slurred speech and memory loss.
“Once you get into days six, seven, upwards of 10, then even a healthy, resilient person will be more predisposed to experiencing some of those deleterious effects of the cold temperature,” he said.
Frostbite is also a concern in southern states, where people might not own clothes for northern winters, said Dr. David Nestler, an emergency medicine specialist at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.
Mississippi officials say it’s the state’s worst winter storm since 1994. About 80 warming centers were opened in one of the nation’s poorest states. National Guard troops were delivering supplies by truck and helicopter.
Yazoo Valley Electric Power Association workers, some of whom don’t have power at their own homes, are working 16-hour days to restore electricity in Mississippi. Workers cut their way through downed trees to reach some areas for repairs, said Michael Neely, CEO and general manager.
Worker Ethan Green, 21, said he feels pressure to get the job done quickly. “We can only go so quick,” he said. "In order to do it safely, we have to take our time.”
In Tennessee, crews were also distributing supplies, said Gov. Bill Lee.
Nashville residents' criticisms have grown louder over their utility's storm preparations and recovery, as more than 70,000 homes and businesses it serves remained powerless with frigid temperatures expected. Nashville Electric Service has defended its approach, saying it was an unprecedented storm. At the peak, about half of its customers in and near the capital city lost power.
Nearly 90 people have died in bitter cold from Texas to New Jersey. Roughly half the deaths were reported in Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana. While some deaths have been attributed to hypothermia, others are suspected to be related to carbon monoxide exposure.
The arctic cold was expected to plunge as far south as Florida.
Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia, and Thanawala from Atlanta. Associated Press writers Jeff Martin in Kennesaw, Georgia; Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina; Gary Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina; Jonathan Mattise and Travis Loller in Nashville, Tennessee; Allen G. Breed in Wake Forest, North Carolina; Sarah Brumfield in Washington; David Fischer in Fort Lauderdale; Devi Shastri in Milwaukee and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed to this report.
Tennessee National Guard Specialist Taylor Osteen, left, holds a chainsaw as he takes a break from cutting trees from a road Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Ethan Green, 21, left, an apprentice one lineman at the Yazoo Valley Power Association, looks up at a crew member Taylor Arinder on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026 in Bentonia, Miss. (AP Photo/Sophie Bates)
Austin Bradbury uses a chainsaw to remove a tree above a road Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Tennessee National Guard members Taylor Osteen, left, and Antuwan Powell walk along an ice covered road as they work to remove trees Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Timothy Holden secures a large propane tank in the bed of his pickup truck in Wake Forest, N.C., on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed)
Stanley Harris, an employee at Holding Oil and Gas, attaches a hose to a propane tank in the bed of his pickup truck in Wake Forest, N.C., on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed)
Sherry Miller, who is staying at the Humphreys County warming center, passes the time playing dominoes with others seeking shelter in Belzoni, Miss., on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Sophie Bates)
Jean Christophe rides his bike home from Kroger on snow and ice in Memphis, Tenn., Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (Mark Weber/Daily Memphian via AP)
Jimmy Jordan, left, and Cordarol Dale walk through snow in Memphis, Tenn., Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (Mark Weber/Daily Memphian via AP)
