The state of Oregon is starting to roll out changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program as required under a massive Republican-led budget law that President Donald Trump signed in July.
Along with tax cuts for businesses, cuts to Medicaid and increased funding for immigration enforcement, the law significantly narrows who qualifies for nutrition assistance. It expands work requirements for most adults, limits utility bill assistance and ends access to SNAP for refugees and asylum seekers.
The changes will be phased in over the next year and won’t immediately affect all 18% of Oregonians who currently receive SNAP benefits. However, starting this week, able-bodied adults without dependents in Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas, Yamhill, Benton and Hood River counties must meet new work requirements to keep receiving benefits. Those who don’t work or volunteer at least 80 hours a month will be limited to just three months of SNAP assistance over a three-year period.
The Oregon Department of Human Services estimates more than 313,000 Oregonians — of the 757,000 who rely on SNAP — will be affected by the changes. Food insecurity is expected to increase around the state at a time when food banks are also facing food shortages. State advisers expect the state will have to carry a greater financial obligation to cover the cost of the program.
Gov. Tina Kotek said she strongly opposes the SNAP changes.
“Our top priority now is making sure every impacted Oregonian knows what’s changing and where to turn for help,” Kotek said in a statement. “No one should have to choose between food and rent, and my administration is mobilizing to ensure that those affected get the information and referrals for other help that they need.”
More adults must prove they work to qualify
More adults are subject to work requirements under the new law.
The law requires that able-bodied adults needing SNAP benefits for more than three months in a three-year period prove that they are working or volunteering 80 hours a month. Exemptions apply to some Native American individuals, pregnant women, people who can’t work because of a physical or mental condition and individuals living with children younger than 14.
Counties where the unemployment rate is above 10% can also waive the work requirements under the new law. However, no Oregon counties meet that threshold. Prior to the new law, the state of Oregon was able to waive work requirements in 30 of its 36 counties. The new rules will expand to all Oregon counties in January 2026.
The law also raises the age limit for able-bodied adults who must prove they are working or volunteering enough hours from 55 to 65, and it lowers the age of children who exempt an adult from those requirements from age 18 to 14.
More than half of Oregon’s SNAP recipients are in households with children and nearly 40% are in households with older adults or people with disabilities, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonprofit think tank.
To find food resources in your community, visit the Oregon Department of Human Service’s food resources website.
The law also removes exemptions for individuals experiencing homelessness, veterans and former foster youth. In May 2025, those exemptions accounted for about 24,300 people experiencing homelessness, 209 former foster youth and nearly 1,300 veterans.
Utility allowance cuts
Starting Nov. 1, households receiving energy assistance will see reductions in their SNAP benefits. Only households with at least one member who is over 60 and has a disability will automatically qualify for a utility allowance.
The state estimates 29,000 households will lose this benefit, with an average cut of $58 per month.
Refugees, asylum seekers lose eligibility
The Oregon Department of Human Services estimates 3,000 people who are refugees, asylum seekers or other people conditionally allowed in the country will lose their SNAP benefits because of the changes.
Dana Hittle, a senior adviser on Medicaid policy and system integration at the Oregon Department of Human Services, said the law undermines SNAP’s main purpose of providing food to the most vulnerable.
“This is one of the most concerning proposed changes resulting in a loss of eligibility for noncitizens, including children of noncitizens, who have historically been able to receive SNAP benefits under certain circumstances,” Hittle told the interim Senate Health Care Committee on Tuesday, noting that it would disproportionately impact mixed-status families where some family members are citizens and others are not.
The federal law removed SNAP eligibility for the following groups:
Individuals lawfully permitted for permanent residence under the Immigration and Nationality Act, including people born abroad to U.S. servicemen and Asian mothers primarily during the Vietnam and Korean Wars
Iraqi or Afghan individuals granted a special immigrant via status.
Refugees
Asylees
Victims or family members of victims of severe forms of trafficking
Individuals who could face persecution on the basis of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion if deported
Parolees
Individuals who are granted conditional entry
Individuals who are a battered spouse or dependent child
U.S. citizens or nationals, permanent residents, certain Cuban and Haitian entrants and Compact of Free Association citizens remain eligible.
SNAP cuts come as Oregon Food Bank sees reduced federal shipments
The changes come as food pantries across the state are already facing food shortages.
As of February, 30 truckloads of food from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that previously reached the Oregon Food Bank have been cancelled. That’s more than 1.4 million pounds of food. The Oregon Food Bank expected at least 60 more truckloads this year, the organization told the Capital Chronicle.
“We are working tirelessly to stock shelves at food assistance sites across Oregon and Southwest Washington, but the reality is that these decisions mean less food for families and empty shelves at pantries,” Oregon Food Bank spokesperson Morgan Dewey said.
While Oregon Food Bank leaders are deeply concerned that the federal SNAP changes will increase hunger and hardship in Oregon communities, Dewey said the organization is committed to providing Oregonians food assistance.
— Mia Maldonado, Oregon Capital Chronicle
Oregon has begun kicking some people off food stamps, cutting others’ monthly benefit
