The U.S. Department of Agriculture opened public comment Tuesday on a proposed rule that would narrow a route into the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program used by most states. The department estimates that 6.3 million people in 3.2 million households would lose food benefits by fiscal 2029 if the rule takes effect as proposed.

Tuesday’s publication in the Federal Register starts a 30-day comment period. It does not change anyone’s eligibility now. The proposal concerns how states use a household’s participation in a separate assistance program to determine whether it meets SNAP’s financial eligibility rules. Bloomberg Law reported that the change would remove a route that states have used to qualify millions of people for food aid.

How the proposal would change eligibility

Under the current system, states can use some benefits or services funded through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, to establish what is known as broad-based categorical eligibility. The congressional primer explains that this can let states apply a higher gross income limit or dispense with a separate asset test. It does not mean every household that receives a qualifying service gets a SNAP payment: states still apply other program rules and calculate any benefit under SNAP’s own formula.

The proposed text would limit the TANF route to households receiving assistance intended to meet ongoing basic needs. That can include cash, vouchers or certain support services. A referral to other services would no longer suffice on its own. The proposal would preserve separate categorical eligibility routes tied to Supplemental Security Income and qualifying general assistance programs.

Who would face a new financial test

USDA counted 46 of the 53 state and territorial agencies that administer SNAP as using broad-based categorical eligibility. Of those, 37 set a higher gross income limit and 41 have no asset limit under that pathway, as Edit USA reported. A household that lost that route could still qualify if it met ordinary SNAP requirements or qualified through a different route. The impact would therefore vary with the rules households already face where they live.

Under the ordinary rules, households without an older adult or person with a disability generally must have gross monthly income at or below 130 percent of the federal poverty level and net monthly income at or below 100 percent after allowable deductions. Households with an older adult or person with a disability generally do not face the gross income test, although resource limits can still apply. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which supports the current flexibility, says the asset test can make it harder for households to build emergency savings without risking eligibility.

What the USDA estimates show

The department’s impact analysis puts the projected loss at about 18 percent of SNAP participants in fiscal 2029, when it expects the proposal to reach its full effect. It estimates federal SNAP benefit spending would fall by about $44.6 billion over fiscal years 2027 through 2031. The same analysis projects higher administrative costs for states as agencies resume checking assets for many households. Those are estimates for the proposed rule, and the five-year spending figure measures benefit payments rather than total government costs.

USDA says a narrower definition would better target assistance and keep states from using substantially different financial rules to qualify households. Rep. Angie Craig, the ranking Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, argued Monday that the proposal would make it harder for people to afford food and undo a way for agencies to streamline enrollment. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities separately estimated before seeing the rule that eliminating the current flexibility could cost roughly 6 million people their benefits. That estimate addressed a prospective policy and used different data and assumptions.

How school meals could be affected

Schools can use SNAP enrollment to establish that a child qualifies for free school meals without a separate household application. USDA projects that about 1.78 million children would lose automatic eligibility through that link. The department expects most of them would still qualify for free or reduced-price meals based on family income, though they could need to qualify through a different process. A child losing SNAP would therefore not necessarily lose access to a subsidized meal.

The distinction matters for families whose children are currently certified automatically. An earlier policy analysis warned that some families who remain financially eligible may never complete a separate application. USDA projects additional application processing for school districts, too. The proposal gives districts and state agencies a chance to tell the department what it may have missed about that workload.

What happens before any rule takes effect

Written comments are due Dec. 10 under docket FNA-2026-0661. The department’s notice asks for feedback on alternatives to its proposed definition of qualifying TANF assistance and on how much extra work the change would create for households and state agencies.

For households, the question to watch is how any final rule would handle applications and renewals, including when state agencies would begin using the revised test. The published proposal opens that discussion. It does not set a date on which a household will lose its benefits.