About 1,310 Oregonians on SNAP in seven rural counties do not have to meet the program’s work rule right now, and the state says that protection is scheduled to run only through December 2026. The Oregon Department of Human Services has not said what happens to the exemption after that.
The department announced the step in a January 28 news release, saying the discretionary exemptions “will be applied automatically each month beginning February 1, 2026 through December 2026.”
Which seven counties are covered
The exemption applies in Crook, Gilliam, Jefferson, Lake, Morrow, Sherman and Wheeler counties. The release says none of the seven has a local WorkSource center, the state employment office where SNAP recipients can find job and training help to meet the rule.
That gap can mean long drives or a reliance on phone and internet service that is not always dependable in rural areas, the department said. Oregon used part of its federal allotment of discretionary exemptions for the 2026 fiscal year, which it received in December, in the places where those barriers are greatest.
Oregon’s own rule book carries the same list. OAR 461-135-0520, effective April 1, 2026, says an exemption is issued each month the person lives in one of those seven counties, and that each exemption covers one month only and cannot be granted for a past month.
Who the work rule applies to
The rule covers adults 18 to 64 with no child under 14 in the SNAP household who are considered able to work. The department’s SNAP time limits page says they must do at least 80 hours a month of work or activities, such as paid work, self-employment, volunteering, bartering or a SNAP employment and training program.
People who do not reach 80 hours are limited to three countable months of SNAP in a three-year period. That period currently runs from January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2027. The page says each month without 80 hours counts, the first three need not be consecutive, and the state sends a notice for each one.
What changed this year: Social Security and Medicare change every year, and nobody sends you a memo. The Retirement Money Brief breaks down what changed and what to do. Bonus when you subscribe: our SNAP Recertification & EBT Checklist.
Get the Brief and the SNAP checklist →
We may earn a commission from links on this page.
For the 1,310 people in the seven counties, the exemption means months pass without counting against that limit. The release says no action is required from them, and that recipients who keep taking part in job training and employment services will not lose the exemption.
What the end of the exemption would mean
The release does not say whether Oregon will extend the exemption into 2027. It says only that the plan runs through December 2026 and that federal guidance limits how long discretionary exemptions can be used. The time limits page adds that the list of exempt counties may change at the start of each calendar year.
If the seven-county exemption is not renewed, an adult in those counties who is not otherwise exempt would have to document 80 hours a month, or begin collecting countable months toward the three-month limit. Under the rule, benefits stop after the third countable month, and the release says a person who loses SNAP this way cannot get it again for up to three years unless an exemption applies.
The rural exemption sits on top of a much wider change. The Daily Tidings reported in December that Oregon began applying the work rule statewide on December 1, 2025, after the federal government ended earlier waivers, and that about 37,000 Oregonians were immediately affected. Veterans, people in foster care and homeless adults, who were previously exempt, were brought under the rule.
Other ways to be exempt
The county exemption is only one of several. The department lists many personal exemptions, including having a child under 14 on the SNAP case, pregnancy, a health reason that prevents work, caring for someone who cannot care for themselves, attending school at least half time, and getting unemployment benefits.
Working at least 30 hours a week, or earning $935.25 a month before taxes, also exempts a person, as does meeting certain Tribal membership or residency rules. Several Tribal lands are exempt even for people who are not members, including those of the Burns Paiute Tribe, the Coquille Indian Tribe and the Klamath Tribes.
The state says exemptions must be reported each time a household applies or renews. Proof of work can be a pay stub or a signed letter from an employer or volunteer coordinator, and a household member who also gets SNAP cannot write the letter.
How many Oregonians are in the larger picture
The release says more than 730,000 people in Oregon receive SNAP. The Daily Tidings reported that Oregon received 15,512 discretionary exemptions for the 2026 federal fiscal year, the pool the state draws on for exemptions like this one.
The department’s ABAWD unit, which handles questions about the work rule, can be reached at 833-947-1694 Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific, or by email at snap.abawdteam@odhs.oregon.gov. The ONE Customer Service Center, at 800-699-9075, also takes calls about SNAP cases.
For the 1,310 adults in the seven counties, the open question is what the state decides before the new year, because the work rule would apply to them again once the monthly exemptions stop.
Living in one of the seven counties as December nears?
If the exemption ends and notices begin arriving in 2027, each month without 80 hours of documented work or an exemption can start counting toward the three-month limit. After the third month, SNAP stops.
The SNAP & Medicaid Renewal Organizer covers the SNAP work-rule time limit and who is exempt, and its 51 state packs include one for Oregon, so a household can check the personal exemptions listed above and know which proof to keep before a recertification date.
See the SNAP work-rule exemption guide and Oregon state pack in the renewal organizer →
More Financial Reading
- 21 Ways to Stretch a $2,087 Social Security Check
- 15 Places to Find Your Share of the $4.25 Billion States Give Back
- 17 Medicare Money Moves Now That Part D Caps at $2,400
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
