USDA Publishes Final Rule to Standardize SNAP Utility Allowances and Recognize Internet as a Basic Utility

Excerpt:  “The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service has announced a final rule to standardize how states calculate Standard Utility Allowances for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP. The rule ensures greater consistency and accuracy across the country, while allowing states to retain flexibility to reflect variations in local utility costs. When determining a household’s eligibility for SNAP and their benefit amount, states consider a household’s total shelter costs, including the cost of utilities such as electricity and water. To simplify the process and reduce the burden on participants to submit detailed utility bills, many states implement Standard Utility Allowances, or SUAs, which are fixed amounts meant to represent a low-income household’s utility costs in the state or local area. The SUA, along with the household’s other housing costs, is factored into a household’s SNAP eligibility and benefit amount.”