Many Nevadans could be at risk of losing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits.
This comes amid provisions in President Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025, which was signed into law on July 4.
One of the bigger changes coming down the pipeline is people being removed from the exemption for work requirements, or the Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWD) time limit.
Looking at recent data, 505,500 Nevadans use SNAP benefits, about 15 percent of the state's population.
For fiscal year 2024, the average SNAP benefit amount for each household member came out to $166 a month, or $5.46 per member per day.
However, big changes will be coming, particularly in the next six weeks.
"We thought they were all going to be rolling out in the spring of '26," said Marie Baxter, CEO of Catholic Charities of Northern Nevada. "We got some information globally, all of us that are in the human services world, this past Friday, that these are actually going to start taking effect on November 1 for notification, and then they will fully take effect on December 1."
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, homeless people, veterans, and people who are aging out of the foster care system up to 24 years old will feel it the most. Before, these groups were exempt from the 20 hours a week or 80 hours a month of work or volunteering. There are some exceptions for people going to school or working towards a certificate.
Parents will also be impacted.
"So before, if you had a child who was 18 years and younger, you didn't necessarily have to be working," Baxter said. "Now that age is changing to 14."
Baxter says they also increased the age limit from 54 to 64 years old for those who will need to fill that work requirement.Â
She says the state told her about 250,000 people could be at risk of losing benefits here in Nevada with these changes.
Just for Catholic Charities of Northern Nevada, Baxter says they serve about 28,000 to 30,000 people a month. The organization estimates that about 90 percent of those people are enrolled in SNAP.
The Food Bank of Northern Nevada is also concerned with the changes.
The nonprofit says that there will be massive cuts to federal funding. Particularly, FBNN said there will be about $24 million in aid cut from the state.
"The federal funding has been shifted from the 'feds' to the state, and that is significant because it's the first time it's happened in the program in this way, and it's really creating cuts," said Jocelyn Lantrip, Director of Marketing, Food Bank of Northern Nevada.
Lantrip says this greatly impacts the work they do at the Food Bank.
"For every meal that we provide to the community, SNAP provides nine," she said. "So, it is a large chunk of the food assistance in the country and in Nevada. And that is very important because it is almost impossible for us to make up those meals."
Both agencies say they are having conversations at the state level as they work through everything.
"Now with the government shutdown, there's obviously a little bit of a flow of information challenge between what's going on at the federal level and what's happening at the state level, but the state is very responsive," Baxter said.
Catholic Charities of Northern Nevada also cut ties with its federal contracts recently.
"Our Catholic Charities Agency is sort of pivoting our different funding streams," Baxter said. "We had a few smaller government contracts, and we've opted, most of them have expired on 9/30, the end of the federal fiscal year, and we opted not to renew those contracts so that we could make sure that every door at Catholic Charities is the right door. Anybody who is in need can come to a Catholic Charities and receive support, whatever that may be for them, for their family, and there's just no barriers."
Baxter says they anticipate more people coming into the food pantry.
Both CCNN and FBNN want those who are receiving benefits to come down and ask all the questions they have. They will have staff willing to help walk people through it.
