In Anchorage, SNAP recipients now face work requirements

Anchorage residents who get SNAP food benefits now have to meet federal work requirements — but everyone else in Alaska is covered by a waiver that runs through the end of October 2026. Anchorage was left out of that waiver from the start, so the clock has been running there since last November.

The state's Office of Citizenship Assistance spelled out the split in its August newsletter. "If you live in Anchorage and receive SNAP, the work requirement applies to you now unless you have another exemption," it said. The waiver that covers the rest of the state is narrower than it sounds: it lifts a time limit on benefits, but doesn't erase the general work requirements underneath.

The changes also widen who is covered. Under the federal budget law signed last July, work requirements now apply to adults up to age 64, raised from 54, and the exemption for parents now only covers those caring for a child under 14, down from under 18. Some groups stay exempt from the time limits no matter what — including people 56 to 64, veterans, people experiencing homelessness, and young adults aging out of foster care — which, read against the wider age range, leaves adults roughly 18 through 55 on the hook, with 55-year-olds newly caught.

The time limit underneath all this is tight: adults who can work but have no dependents and aren't working or in an approved training program at least 20 hours a week can get only three months of benefits over any three-year stretch. Neither the state nor the federal guidance explains why Anchorage alone was carved out.

Recipients with questions about their own case can call the Division of Public Assistance at 1-800-478-7778, where interpreters are free.