Thursday, October 15 is the last day to tell USDA what it thinks of the SNAP purchase limits in eight states: Virginia, Texas, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Ohio, North Dakota, Nevada and Missouri. The agency published a separate Federal Register notice for each state on September 15, and each one invites written comments on the state’s project to remove items such as soda, candy and prepared desserts from what SNAP benefits can buy. USDA has already approved all eight. The comment window opened after those approvals, and in Texas and Oklahoma after the limits took effect.
That timing leaves SNAP households asking whether a comment can still change anything in their state, and whether a state that is not on the list could be next. The eight notices answer the first question in USDA’s own words. The second depends on a table USDA updated on October 2, which lists 19 states with standing approvals and four more where a court has stopped the waiver.
Texas won approval on August 4, 2025 and its shoppers saw no change until April 1, 2026, which means the dates that matter most in the months between are renewal and reporting dates. The SNAP & Medicaid Renewal Organizer lays out those dates state by state in 51 state packs and a renewal and reporting calendar.
A comment period that follows the approvals
Each notice rests on section 17(b) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, the provision that lets USDA test changes to SNAP through state demonstration projects. The Ohio notice says comments are not required by statute, but that USDA’s Food and Nutrition Administration is “particularly interested” in views on how the state plans to implement and operate its project. Written comments go through Regulations.gov and must arrive by October 15.
Comments become public, names included. The Nevada notice says the agency will “take appropriate action as necessary in response to comments,” a phrase that stops short of promising any change to an approved waiver. Shiela Corley, the Acting Administrator, is the named contact on the notices, and questions go to an email address that carries a subject line for each state, such as “OH SNAP Demonstration Project.” The notices list no docket number.
Eight states, three timetables
Two of the eight states already enforce their limits. Texas restricts sweetened drinks and candy and has a target date of April 1, 2026. Its comment notice shows the state asked in June 2025, won approval on August 4, 2025, and modified the request on January 23, 2026 to make naturally sweetened beverages and medical-grade electrolyte drinks eligible. Oklahoma restricts soft drinks and candy with a February 15, 2026 start after an August 4, 2025 approval.
Four states are set for November 1. Ohio restricts sugar-sweetened beverages and all fountain drinks, North Dakota restricts soft drinks, energy drinks and candy, and South Carolina adds soft drinks and sweetened beverages to candy and energy drinks. Virginia restricts “sweetened beverages.” The notices carry earlier proposed dates, October 1 for Ohio and Virginia and September 1 for North Dakota, while USDA’s waiver table lists November 1 for all four.
The last two states are furthest away. Missouri, approved on December 10, 2025, restricts candy, prepared desserts and certain unhealthy beverages, and a June 2 request moved its start to February 15, 2027. Nevada’s restrictions on candy and sugar-sweetened beverages are set for February 1, 2028, after a March 4, 2026 approval. Both fall well beyond the October 15 deadline, so comments land before either state’s shoppers see a change.
Edits that came after approval
Several of the notices describe changes made after the first approval. Ohio asked on June 12, 2026 to add fountain drinks to sugar-sweetened beverages. South Carolina filed a July 23 modification amending the definition of “soft drink.” Nevada clarified its candy definition in April and dropped specific brand names, and North Dakota asked on February 27 to explain its restricted items further.
Definitions are where a limit becomes a shopping rule, and they are the part of these projects still moving. South Carolina’s July 23 filing is the most recent of the changes, and it came more than seven months after the state’s December 10, 2025 approval.
Nebraska runs on its own clock. USDA’s October 2 notice says the state formally submitted a new request on September 1, after a federal court vacated its earlier project, and that the agency may authorize or refuse it. Comments on Nebraska are due November 2 under a docket numbered FNA_FRDOC_0001-0036, which makes it a separate process from the eight states here.
Following one state’s request on USDA’s pages
The starting point is USDA’s main SNAP page, which lists a “Request for Comments” entry for each state under What’s New. Each entry opens the notice with the state’s request, its approval date, any modifications and the comment deadline. The waiver table linked from the same pages shows the status and the retailer contacts for each state.
A comment has to reach Regulations.gov by the deadline, and the submitter’s name will appear with it. Texas and Oklahoma, whose target dates have already passed, are the clearest test of how the agency treats comments on a project in operation. The Nevada notice adds that USDA will use the state’s evaluation data to review the project’s results.
The notices show what USDA has put on the table: eight approved projects, one comment deadline and an agency that says it will act “as necessary.” What none of them says is whether any approval will change as a result. USDA’s answer will show up in the same waiver table that now lists Texas at April 1, 2026 and Nevada at February 1, 2028, and Corley is the official the notices name for questions.
Eight states’ limits arrive on eight different dates
The SNAP & Medicaid Renewal Organizer holds 51 state packs and a renewal and reporting calendar, one pack per state. Texas set its limits for April 1, 2026, Ohio’s are set for November 1 and Nevada’s for February 1, 2028, and in each of them the renewal and reporting dates stay with the state, not with the purchase rules.
This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by The Money Overview’s editorial team.
