SNAP Next Step Act of 2025
SNAP Next Step Act of 2025
Plain Language Summary
# SNAP Next Step Act of 2025 - Summary **What It Does:** This bill would allow state agencies to use money currently designated for SNAP (food assistance) administration to fund job training and employment programs. States could recruit SNAP recipients for workforce training activities and help them calculate how earning income might affect their benefits using an online calculator. **Who It Affects:** The bill targets SNAP recipients who are unemployed or underemployed and meet certain conditions: they must be in households receiving food assistance, not currently receiving welfare (TANF), and not already enrolled in a state employment program. Essentially, it aims to connect low-income individuals receiving food assistance with job training opportunities. **Key Provisions:** States would have flexibility to redirect some SNAP administrative funding toward employment and training services.
The bill also requires states to create a public calculator so SNAP recipients can see how working more hours or earning more income would impact their benefits—addressing a common barrier where people worry that earning more could mean losing assistance. **Current Status:** The bill is currently in committee (S. 1794, sponsored by Senator Pete Ricketts of Nebraska) and has not yet been voted on or passed.
CRS Official Summary
SNAP Next Step Act of 2025This bill allows a state agency to use Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) administrative funding for certain Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) programs.Specifically, a state agency may recruit eligible SNAP participants for, and carry out employment and training activities under, WIOA programs. Participants must (1) be in a household that is receiving SNAP assistance, (2) meet SNAP participation requirements (e.g., work requirements) or be exempt from those requirements, (3) be unemployed or underemployed, (4) be in a family that is not receiving assistance under a Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant, and (5) not be enrolled in a state program that is identified as an Employment First program by a state workforce agency.Further, a state agency may develop a publicly available employment calculator for the state agency's website to assist SNAP recipients in calculating whether the amount of benefits received would be greater or lesser than income from future employment. Developing the calculator must be considered an administrative cost, which is shared by a state agency and the Department of Agriculture.
Latest Action
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.