More states restrict what SNAP recipients can buy with food benefits
More states restrict what SNAP recipients can buy with food benefits
Sarah D. Wire, USA TODAYThu, March 5, 2026 at 10:41 PM UTC
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Kansas, Nevada, Ohio and Wyoming have joined 18 other states in implementing restrictions on what food assistance recipients can purchase using their taxpayer-funded benefits.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins signed new waivers allowing restrictions on spending of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits on March 4.
The waivers are tailored to each state. Most ban the purchase of soda and candy.
The latest:
Kansas will ban SNAP users from purchasing candy and soft drinks;
Nevada will ban them from buying candy and sugar sweetened beverages;
Ohio will also ban sugar sweetened beverages;
and Wyoming will ban purchasing sugar sweetened carbonated beverages.
"As I have said before Wyoming taxpayers expect their dollars to support food assistance that helps families put healthy food on the table,” Wyoming Republican Gov. Mark Gordon said in a statement. “This waiver is about supporting healthier communities in Wyoming and is a reasonable, commonsense step that aligns the program with its original purpose."
1 / 0Free food as SNAP benefits haltedFood items at a Food Bank of the Rockies distribution site in Aurora, Colorado, including milk, pasta and frozen blueberries.
For 60 years, the Department of Agriculture under presidents of both parties has denied state requests to restrict SNAP-eligible foods, saying it could not waive the definition of "food" for purchase with SNAP benefits that Congress set in law, Professor Tyson-Lord Gray, who teaches at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, told USA TODAY. SNAP recipients could buy anything except alcohol, tobacco, hot and prepared foods, and personal care products.
President Donald Trump's administration began granting waivers in 2025, despite no change in the law. The USDA says these waivers are permitted under its pilot project authority to test the impact of excluding some foods on health and nutrition.
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“The Trump Administration is unified in improving the health of our nation. America’s governors have proudly answered the call to innovate by improving nutrition programs, ensuring better choices while respecting the generosity of the American taxpayer. Each waiver submitted by the states and signed is yet another step closer to fulfilling President Trump’s promise to Make America Healthy Again,” Rollins said when she signed the first waivers in June 2025.
Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia have been granted waivers. Many focus on candy and sugary drinks, some specifically talk about energy drinks or juice. Each has a different definition of what items are banned.
Gray said he's surprised that no lawsuits have been filed yet. In 2007, the USDA issued a memo stating that the pilot project authority the Trump administration is acting under could not be used to restrict food choices.
SNAP provides monthly benefits to millions of Americans via an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card, which can be used to buy groceries at authorized retailers. Stores often advertise their participation in the program.
Gray said businesses that have locations across many states are facing "compliance chaos" and would have the greatest standing to sue because the varied standards will require changes including point of sale software and employee training.
"Every state has their own definition of what is candy, what is a sugary beverage. So now you have businesses that have locations across the country that have to literally update their (point of sale) systems in every state to adhere to specific restrictions for that state," he said.
Though Congress did not change the legal definition of what recipients can purchase, it incentivized states to apply for waivers in the GOP tax and spending bill signed into law last summer. The law created a $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program that scores states on whether they submit SNAP restriction waivers.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: SNAP benefits restricted in more states. See the list.
Source: “AOL Breaking”
