Waiver holding off SNAP's work time limit outside Anchorage now runs to October 2027

A federal waiver that keeps SNAP's work time limit from applying outside Anchorage now runs through Oct. 31, 2027, a year past the end date the state listed in September.

Back then, the state's SNAP page said the waiver would expire Oct. 31. It now gives the 2027 date, and so does a presentation the Alaska Department of Health is set to give state lawmakers Tuesday.

The time limit applies to adults who can work and have no dependents. They generally can get SNAP, once known as food stamps, for only three months in three years unless they work or take part in an approved work program at least 20 hours a week.

A 2025 federal law widened who that covers. It now applies to adults up to age 64 instead of 54. Parents are exempt only if their child is under 14, down from 18. Veterans, people experiencing homelessness and former foster youth no longer qualify for an exemption on that basis alone. It added one for people who meet federal definitions of Indian or Urban Indian, which cover members of tribes, including Alaska Native villages.

While it lasts, the waiver exempts every borough and census area except Anchorage from the time limit. It also keeps several groups exempt, the state's page says: people 56 to 64, households with children 14 to 17, veterans, people experiencing homelessness and young adults 18 to 24 leaving foster care.

Anchorage isn't covered, so the time limit already applies there to adults who aren't otherwise exempt.

The department calls the waiver "additional implementation time." Alaska's SNAP caseload averaged about 31,400 a month in the 2025 fiscal year, according to the state Division of Public Assistance. The presentation doesn't estimate how many people the new rules would affect.