SNAP recipients a lifeline as volunteer work now counts toward federal rules

New law gives SNAP recipients a volunteer option

Arkansas has a new law that could help thousands of people keep their food assistance. Act 631, the Workforce Experience Opportunities Act of 2025, took effect on Jan. 1, 2026.

It requires state-funded offices and agencies to accept SNAP recipients as volunteers. That volunteer time counts toward the federal work requirements these recipients must meet to keep their benefits.

The law does not add new work rules. It gives people a new way to meet the ones that already exist.

Rep. Kendon Underwood and Sen. Missy Irvin sponsored the bill.

SNAP work rules carry a strict deadline

SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, helps low-income Americans buy food.

Federal law says certain recipients, called ABAWDs (able-bodied adults without dependents), must work, volunteer, or do job training for at least 80 hours a month.

People who fall short can only get SNAP benefits for three months out of every three years. Qualifying work includes paid jobs, unpaid volunteer hours, or approved training programs.

Not everyone on SNAP faces these rules, though. People with disabilities, pregnant individuals, and others can get exemptions.

Federal law expanded who must meet work rules

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which President Trump signed in July 2025, made more people across the country subject to SNAP work requirements. The age range jumped from 18-54 to 18-64.

Parents whose youngest child is 14 or older must now meet the rules too, down from a previous cutoff of 18.

Congress also removed exemptions for veterans, people experiencing homelessness, and young adults who aged out of foster care. All of that means more Arkansans now need a way to log those 80 hours.

Thousands of Arkansans receive SNAP benefits

About 240,400 people in Arkansas received SNAP benefits during fiscal year 2025, roughly 8% of the state’s population.

That total includes children, elderly residents, and people with disabilities who do not face work requirements. But the expanded federal rules mean a bigger share of adult recipients now must find ways to satisfy them.

Arkansas does not waive ABAWD work requirements in any part of the state, so there is no geographic safety net for those who fall short.

The law covers a wide range of government offices

Act 631 defines a state-funded entity as any state agency, sub-agency, or political subdivision with a physical location where people work indoors.

It also includes any municipal office that accepts any amount of state funding in a given year. That covers a broad range of government buildings and publicly funded locations across Arkansas.

Private nonprofits and businesses that receive state grants do not qualify. Only government and municipal entities fall under the law’s requirements.

Entities must accept volunteers with proper documents

Under the law, state-funded entities must accept any work requirement volunteer who shows documentation of their work requirement and a photo ID.

The entity must then send timely paperwork to the agency tracking the volunteer’s compliance, confirming the person showed up. Entities can assign volunteers to tasks that need no special experience or education.

They can also match volunteers to tasks that fit their skills, even at locations away from the main office. An entity can also limit what a volunteer does on the premises outside of assigned work.

The legal minimum is simpler than you might think

The law sets a low bar for what “accept and accommodate” actually means.

At a minimum, an entity must let the volunteer physically enter and stay in the public area of the location for at least four hours a day. It must also give them access to a bathroom.

The law does not require entities to create specific job duties or training programs. They can choose to involve volunteers in meaningful work, but legally, showing up and being present is enough.

Some facilities can opt out of the law

Not every state-funded location has to participate.

The law exempts any entity where a volunteer’s presence anywhere on the premises would inevitably interfere with essential operations.

Entities are also exempt if a volunteer would pose a risk to the health and safety of the community they serve. Think secure facilities, sensitive government operations, or locations with public safety concerns.

Even outside those exemptions, accepting a volunteer must not interfere with how the entity runs day to day.

Volunteers do not get workers’ comp coverage

Here is a detail SNAP recipients should know before signing up. The law says work requirement volunteers are not eligible for workers’ compensation benefits.

If a volunteer gets hurt while serving at a state-funded entity, they cannot file a workers’ comp claim.

That is a real gap in protection, and it is worth considering before choosing this volunteer path over other ways to meet the 80-hour requirement.

Entities and employees get legal protections

State-funded entities and their employees get broad protection from lawsuits tied to volunteer injuries or volunteer conduct. This shield covers both injuries to volunteers and injuries caused by volunteers.

The only exception is if the entity or employee acted with reckless or intentional misconduct. These protections come on top of any existing sovereign immunity or governmental immunity the entity already has.

The law defines who counts as a volunteer

A work requirement volunteer under this law must be an Arkansas resident who has to comply with the SNAP employment and training program to stay eligible for benefits.

The person must not qualify for a federal exemption under the law as it existed on Jan. 1, 2025.

In plain terms, that means able-bodied adults without dependents who need to work, train, or volunteer 80 hours a month to keep SNAP.

Under the expanded federal rules, this now includes adults up to age 64 and parents with children 14 and older.

Act 631 joins several changes hitting Arkansas SNAP recipients

Act 631 is not the only change Arkansas SNAP recipients have dealt with recently.

The state also put the expanded federal work requirements from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into place starting in late 2025.

On top of that, Arkansas received federal approval to restrict SNAP purchases of certain sugary drinks and candy.

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed Act 631 on April 16, 2025, alongside dozens of other bills from the 2025 legislative session. The new volunteer path is now available statewide.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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