SNAP's work requirement now follows unemployed adults to age 64

For Covelli, the age limit took effect before Oct. 1. Her letter from SNAP arrived this summer, several months before her 54th birthday. It told her that under the OBBBA, enacted on July 4, 2025, the work requirement had been extended to 64 ^[4]. Until then she had been following advice from her state office. "They were saying, 'Just try to hold on until you turn 54,'" she told CBS News ^[3]. "That's a long way off. At this point, SNAP benefits are essentially over for me," she said ^[5].

Enrollment is at its lowest level since 2019 ^[11]. President Trump said in May that millions of people had been "lifted off" SNAP by a stronger economy ^[8], and the White House did not respond to CBS's request for comment ^[9]. That reading is incomplete because a falling count looks the same whether people left for jobs or were removed while still looking. Covelli is in the second group ^[1].

On Oct. 1, the states' share of administrative costs moves from 50% to 75% ^[12]. That is a 25-point rise, or 50% more than states paid before (25 divided by 50) ^[1]. Under the error-rate charge due in October 2027 ^[13], states with high error rates will then also pay part of benefit costs. Republican lawmakers and anti-hunger advocates disagree about what the errors are. The lawmakers say high rates indicate fraud, while advocates point to routine mistakes such as misspellings or missing addresses ^[14].

The first charge shapes the second. A state that trims its SNAP office to absorb the larger administrative share is also setting the error rate on which its 2027 benefit charge will be judged. Crystal FitzSimons, president of the Food Research & Action Center, said the stricter work rules and states' scramble to keep up with the funding changes are already causing confusion and application backlogs in many state agencies ^[15]. "We are concerned that some states could drop out of the program because they're not able to cover the cost," she said ^[16].

Alabama has put a figure on that risk. Brandon Hardin, the state's SNAP director, told the Alabama Reflector in July that the error-rate provision could cost the state an additional $174 million ^[17]. He said one option would be to end the state's food stamp program if it fails to lower its error rate ^[17]. Arizona's Department of Economic Security said in June that it had "been forced to rapidly overhaul our process to administer vital nutrition benefits" because of the law ^[19].

For employers and workforce programs, the extension adds older jobseekers, up to 64, whose food aid depends on at least 80 hours a month of work or volunteering ^[7]. The CBS reporting covers recipients, advocates and state agencies, and does not describe how employers or job-training programs are responding. Covelli's own search is the evidence on the record so far: about 10 applications a week, and no job yet ^[6].