On June 22, 2026, a federal district court issued a significant ruling in Aragon v. Rollins, holding that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) exceeded its legal authority when it approved state demonstration projects that restricted what Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants could purchase with their benefits.
New Bedford Public Schools served more than 1.2 million breakfasts, 1.9 million lunches, and 65,000 afterschool meals during the 2024–25 school year. On an average day, over 60 percent of the district’s students participate in school breakfast.
The budget reconciliation law, also referred to as H.R. 1,, marks a significant departure from the longstanding structure of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), one of the federal government’s most effective tools for reducing hunger and promoting economic stability. The law weakens multiple components of the critical support system shifts substantial financial responsibility from the federal government to states, and fundamentally alters SNAP’s financing model. Most notably, it requires states, for the first time in the program’s history, to cover a share of SNAP food benefit costs rather than limiting their contributions to administrative expenses.
As of December 2025, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has a notice of proposed rulemaking pending that would eliminate states’ ability to use broad-based categorical eligibility (BBCE), a policy that streamlines the administration of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Currently, 43 states and the District of Columbia use BBCE to help ensure that food-insecure residents have access to the nutrition they need to thrive.
The Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer (Summer EBT) Program has been a permanent program since 2024 and has found enormous success. In its second year of implementation, five Indian Tribal Organizations (ITOs) were joined by 37 states, the District of Columbia, and all five U.S. territories to serve millions of children. Still, many ITOs and states are missing out on the opportunity to leverage federal dollars to address childhood summertime food insecurity.