Share and Follow
In a significant development affecting many Illinois residents, a pivotal change regarding SNAP eligibility has recently been implemented. Previously, the state had a waiver in place that eased work requirements for certain individuals seeking these benefits.
This shift has created a sense of urgency as the protections once offered by the waiver have been lifted. The removal of the waiver, which took effect on Sunday, poses a considerable threat to the food security of countless individuals across the state, potentially leaving hundreds of thousands struggling to meet their basic nutritional needs.
These changes bring the issue of food insecurity into sharp focus, as illustrated by the experience of Vickie Seats, a SNAP recipient. When she visited the newly opened food pantry at West Garfield Park’s Legler Regional Public Library, she expressed deep concern about the future of her and her husband’s food assistance. “We need the SNAP,” Seats emphasized, highlighting the critical role these benefits play in their daily lives. “The SNAP helps us eat.”
ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch
Walking into the newly opened food pantry inside West Garfield Park’s Legler Regional Public Library on Sunday, SNAP recipient Vickie Seats worries about her and her husband’s food stamps.
“We need the SNAP,” Seats said. “The SNAP helps us eat.”
While she says both qualify for the newly enacted work requirement exemptions, her husband’s recent disability has not yet been certified.
“He has a mental illness now, which just came about, and we’re trying to get paperwork now,” Seats said. “They tell you it’s not going to be like 30 days. It could be 90 days. It could be 120 days. It’s nothing fast, but we need to eat every day.”
As part of last year’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” under the new law, “SNAP recipients who are 18 to 64, and parents without children younger than 14 will now be required to prove that they are working or volunteering for a total of 80 hours a month in order to keep their benefits.”
“For every month you don’t meet those work requirements, that’s a strike against you. And three strikes and you’re off SNAP in a three-year period,” Greater Chicago Food Depository Camerin Mattson said.
Previously under federal law, only adults aged 18 to 54 without dependents under age 18 had to meet those requirements. But because Illinois had a waiver, nobody had to.
Officials say up to 340,000 people are at risk. It’s why everyone currently on SNAP is being asked to make sure they check in with the Illinois Department of Human Services, to see if they qualify for an exemption, and if not, make sure their work information is up to date.
“It’s either working, volunteering or participating in a qualifying education program,” Mattson said. “If you’re going to meet these requirements by volunteering, let them know. That’s not something that SNAP participants have had to report in the past.”
And while food banks like the one at the Legler Library help, Matteson says they simply aren’t set up to fill such a large gap.
“SNAP is our nation’s frontline defense against hunger,” Mattson said. “For every meal we provide, SNAP provides nine.”
Nobody is losing their benefits as of Sunday. But, anybody who receives SNAP and does not get an exemption or does not meet the requirements by May 1, will do so.
It is why it’s very important that, if they haven’t done so yet, beneficiaries make sure their information is up to date as soon as possible.
Copyright © 2026 WLS-TV. All Rights Reserved.