COLAs Don’t Count Act of 2026
House Bill Would Shield SNAP Recipients From Losing Benefits Due to Social Security COLAs
Legislative Progress
Key Points
- For SNAP (food assistance), the bill says yearly benefit increases for Social Security and similar programs would not be counted as “income” for a period of time.
- This aims to stop people from losing SNAP or getting less help just because their Social Security, disability, railroad retirement, or certain veterans benefits got a cost-of-living raise.
- It would apply if the household was already getting SNAP or had been approved in the month right before the COLA increase takes effect.
- It also excludes certain extra state-paid supplemental payments tied to disability benefits from being counted as income for SNAP.
- The change would start October 1, 2027, not right away.
Impact Analysis
Personal Impact
How this policy affects specific groups of people
Milestones
Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.
Introduced in House
The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.
Votes
No votes have been recorded for this legislation yet.
Related News
3 articlesWelch reintroduces bill to bolster SNAP benefits for Social Security recipients
Senator Peter Welch (D-VT) joined Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI) to reintroduce the COLAs Don’t Count Act. The legislation would allow SNAP households to deduct annual Social Security cost-of-living adjustments from their income when calculating eligibility, preventing benefit cuts for seniors.
Moore, Welch, Chu Reintroduce Bicameral Bill to Bolster SNAP Benefits for Social Security Recipients
Rep. Gwen Moore reintroduced the COLAs Don’t Count Act (H.R. 6986) to protect SNAP benefits from being reduced due to Social Security COLA increases. The bill aims to stop the 'benefits cliff' that affected 28,000 households in 2023, causing them to lose eligibility entirely.
Wyden Joins Colleagues to Reintroduce Bill Aimed at Protecting Food Assistance for Social Security Recipients
Senator Ron Wyden and colleagues reintroduced the COLAs Don’t Count Act to ensure SNAP recipients aren't cut off due to incremental income changes. The bill proposes exempting Social Security, railroad retirement, and veterans' benefit COLAs from income calculations for food assistance.
Source Information
Document Type
Congressional Bill
Official Title
COLAs Don’t Count Act of 2026
Data Sources
Sponsor
Cosponsors
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