By Emily Wildau
Director of Policy

Download this fact sheet (Sept 2025; 2 pgs; pdf)

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) expands strict work requirements for SNAP participants and restricts states’ ability to be granted waivers based on challenging economic conditions. As a result, many families in New Mexico risk immediately losing SNAP benefits that keep food on their tables. SNAP recipients who are subject to these work requirements, also known as “time-limited participants,” are the most at risk of losing benefits from the changes in the OBBBA.

In addition, New Mexico immigrants with protected status (such as refugees and asylees) are no longer eligible for SNAP, and are set to lose their benefits as soon as their next recertification period.

How do time-limited participants prove they are meeting the work requirement?

  • SNAP participants that are not exempted from work requirements must provide documentation that they have worked at least 20 hours per week at certification, recertification, and if their work hours change.
  • SNAP Education and Training (and other work programs) or volunteer hours also count towards the work requirement.
  • Pay stubs, employer statements, third-party verification systems, and SNAP E&T providers are examples of sources state agencies can use to confirm participants are meeting work requirements.

After the OBBBA, Only Luna County Remains Eligible for SNAP Work Requirement Waiver8

Before (as of April 1, 2025) vs. After (as of September 2025)

1. “SNAP Work Requirements,” U.S. Department of Food and Agriculture, https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/work-requirements, Accessed on Sept 26,2025.
2. “Senate Agriculture Committee’s Revised Work Requirement Would Risk Taking Away Food Assistance From More Than 5 Million People: State Estimates,” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, June 27, 2025.
3. “Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWD) Policy Guide,” U.S. Department of Food and Agriculture, September 2023
4. “New Mexico Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program,” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, January 21, 2025.
5. “Food Insecurity among the Child Population in New Mexico,” Feeding America, https://map.feedingamerica.org/county/2023/child/new-mexico, Accessed September 25, 2025.
6.“Senate Agriculture Committee’s Revised Work Requirement Would Risk Taking Away Food Assistance From More Than 5 Million People: State Estimates,” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, June 27, 2025.
7. “State Landscape: Detailing Eligibility & Enrollment Practices in Medicaid, SNAP, TANF, and WIC,” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, June 27, 2025.
8. “House Reconciliation Bill Proposes Deepest SNAP Cut in History, Would Take Food Assistance Away From Millions of Low-Income Families,” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, January 21, 2025.