H.R. 1398: Securing Strictly Needy Americans’ Pivotal (SNAP) Benefits Act of 2025

This bill, known as the Securing Strictly Needy Americans’ Pivotal (SNAP) Benefits Act of 2025, introduces several amendments related to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. Below is a summary of its key components:

1. Limitations on Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) Card Usage

The bill proposes to regulate the use of EBT cards by adding conditions for purchasing food. Specifically:

• If a household’s EBT card transactions are exclusively made out-of-state for more than 60 days, the state agency will suspend the household's account.
• To reactivate the account, the household must:
• Provide evidence that all members reside in the state from which they receive benefits, or
• Allow for an investigation to confirm that household members still reside in that state.

2. Restrictions Related to Ownership of Retail Food Stores

The bill adds restrictions concerning households that include members who own approved retail food stores or wholesale food concerns:

• Households with an owner of a retail food store or wholesale concern cannot redeem SNAP benefits at their own store or concern.
• This restriction does not apply to stores owned by publicly traded corporations or government-owned entities.

3. Effective Date

The amendments introduced by this bill will take effect one year after the bill is enacted.

Relevant Companies

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