Mobilizing to Mitigate Harm From HR1, The Big Brutal Bill
Author: Ann Sanders, Just Harvest’s Director of Public Benefits Policy and Programs
Just Harvest has been joining with partners around the state to inform our community about the upcoming changes to SNAP benefits that will harm families this fall. We’ve worked to update our materials about the work reporting requirements and punitive time-limit that will begin for many adults September 1st.
Click the link to view the recordings from these virtual sessions to learn more about federal changes that are likely to alter access and change requirements for many.
How to Help PA Families Keep SNAP Under Work Requirements & Restrictions on Immigrant Eligibility
Just Harvest and CLS hosted a webinar to explain the SNAP work requirements and changes to immigrant eligibility rules. Click the link to view the recording.
What can SNAP recipients do?
Ensure your mailing address is up to date with the CAO. Notices about benefit changes will be mailed to you.
Complete the Screening Form Checklist (mailed to you by PA DHS)
If health limits your work, have your doctor, provider, therapist or social worker sign the Medical Exemption Form.
Return the Screening Form + proof to your County Assistance Office as soon as possible.
If your benefits are stopped and you think the CAO made a mistake, file an appeal.
What are the changes directly impacting SNAP recipients?
Starting September 1, 2025
Most adults ages 18-54 without a child under 18 on SNAP will need to either report working 80 hours a month or qualify for an exemption.
If a SNAP recipient doesn’t meet those conditions, they can only get 3 months of SNAP benefits within a 3-year period.
That means if someone does not report t meeting the work requirements or doesn’t claim an exemption, September, October, and November will count as their 3 allowable months. By December 2025, they would no longer be eligible for SNAP.
October 1, 2025
Changes in eligibility to immigrants: Only Legal Permanent Residents, Cuban/Haitian entrants, and COFA citizens will be eligible for SNAP.
More than 30,000 refugees, asylees, victims of trafficking, and other legal immigrants – including children – will no longer qualify for SNAP benefits. This policy change will also lower SNAP for U.S. citizen children living in immigrant households, by reducing SNAP for the entire family.
Renters whose heat is included in their rent may see their benefits drop as “Heat and Eat” will no longer be available to households without elderly or disabled members.
November 1, 2025
Work reporting requirements and the harsh time limit will expand to include adults ages 18-54 in households without a child under age 14, including veterans and youth aging out of foster care. These adults will likely lose benefit in February of 2026.
This reporting requirement applies to both parents in two-parent households, even if one parent is working full time, the other must also work a minimum of 80 hours per month or claim an exemption.
All of these changes cumulatively are expected to impact more than 143,000 adults, spiking rates of hunger across the Commonwealth.
In addition to these harsh changes that restrict eligibility, HR1 included two major changes in funding that threaten the long term stability of the program.
They cut in half the amount of federal dollars going to support SNAP administration: the federal funding PA DHS receives to train and pay SNAP case managers, update IT systems, and ensure SNAP benefits are paid accurately and timely, which had been split 50-50 between the feds and the state. Starting October 1, 2026, the federal government will only pay 25% of those costs, and Pennsylvania will be responsible for 75%. According to the PA IFO, this would cost Pennsylvania about $130 million/year.
Starting October 1, 2027, PA will likely have to pay a portion of SNAP benefits in order to continue operating the program. If the state cannot pay its full cost-share, there will be no federal support for the program – essentially stopping SNAP for the state. On the low end, a 5% cost-share would cost Pennsylvania $225 million/year.
In short, Republicans voted to block food assistance by adding more complexity and paperwork, deprive the state of resources to administer that new complexity, and then penalize inaccuracies in a way that threaten this foundational anti-hunger program.
It is upon us to hold members accountable, to demand they repeal these changes, and to encourage Pennsylvania’s legislature to raise revenue to preserve SNAP, Medicaid, and human services amidst these attacks that would dismantle vital services across the state.
