Government & Policy
Legislation, executive orders, regulatory changes, and government actions that directly impact personal finances, taxes, benefits, or the economy.
Latest in Government & Policy
An elderly or disabled member in Alaska counts as a separate SNAP household when the others’ income stays within 165 percent of poverty, which is $2,744 a month for a one-person household
USDA’s fiscal 2027 SNAP memo sets Alaska’s 165-percent-of-poverty figure for a one-person household at $2,744 a month, and that number does one narrow job. It...
A federal scholarship tax credit starts January 1, and any state not already signed up has until that day to file for it
Treasury and the IRS published temporary regulations on October 2, 2026 for a new federal scholarship tax credit, and the calendar they set runs on...
SNAP households on change reporting must tell the state when income moves by more than $150
USDA has set the SNAP change-reporting threshold at $150 for fiscal 2027, and the figure took effect on October 1, 2026. Households assigned to change...
CMS is taking comment until November 23 on the contract terms drug plans must offer any pharmacy that applies
Comments are due by November 23, 2026 on a question the federal government has not yet answered: what contract terms Medicare drug plans could demand...
Customs says the Supreme Court’s tariff ruling reaches back to February 3, 2025, which fixes how far the refunds go
One date in a Customs and Border Protection notice, February 3, 2025, marks where the unlawful-tariff period begins in the government’s own account of the...
Congress’s budget office now puts net federal customs revenue for fiscal 2026 about $250 billion below its February projection
The Congressional Budget Office now projects that net customs revenues for fiscal year 2026 will be about $250 billion lower than the office projected in...
Adults without dependents lose food stamps after three months in three years unless they log 80 hours a month
Able-bodied adults without dependents, aged 18 through 64, can receive SNAP for only three months in any three years unless they log at least 80...
Kansas asked to bar candy and soft drinks from food-stamp purchases starting February 15, 2027
Kansas has asked the federal government for permission to bar candy and soft drinks from food-stamp purchases starting February 15, 2027, according to a notice...
Veterans’ Group Life Insurance stops collecting premiums for three months from November 1, worth an average $330 each
Veterans’ Group Life Insurance will stop collecting premiums for three months starting November 1, 2026, under a premium holiday that the Department of Veterans Affairs...
The VA reported 670,845 claims pending and 74,448 of them past 125 days on September 28
The Department of Veterans Affairs reported 670,845 claims pending on September 28, and 74,448 of them had been waiting more than 125 days. The inventory...
The new mandatory Medicare drug rule benchmarks Part B prices against 19 foreign countries and lets drugmakers pick one of two methods
What Medicare Part B pays for certain drugs will be measured against prices in 19 other countries under a rule the Centers for Medicare &...
More than seven months after the tariffs fell, the refund paperwork is still out for comment until November 4
Customs and Border Protection is still taking public comment, until November 4, 2026, on the paperwork behind the court-ordered tariff refunds, more than seven months...
Texas would still let food-stamp shoppers buy naturally sweetened and medical-grade electrolyte drinks under its proposed ban
Texas’s amended SNAP demonstration project would bar sweetened drinks and candy from purchase with benefits, but the state’s own request spells out two kinds of...
The Tariff Refund Act would refund $1,700 on a joint return and nothing above $400,000
H.R. 9768, the Tariff Refund Act of 2026, would treat certain tariff revenue as an overpayment of tax and would refund $1,700 on a joint...
States must run Medicaid’s 80-hour monthly work requirement by January 1, and a person who falls short gets 30 days to fix it
January 1, 2027 is the latest date on which a state may start running Medicaid’s new community-engagement requirement, which asks expansion adults aged 19 to...
Medicare’s $90 payment is followed by an email or a letter from the President in mid-October, according to the agency’s own fact sheet
The paper trail of the $90 Medicare rebate has three parts, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services describes all of them in its...
Veterans, homeless adults and former foster youth lost their food-stamp work exemption under the 2025 law
Veterans, people experiencing homelessness and adults aged 24 or younger who were in foster care on their 18th birthday lost a shield from the SNAP...
USDA’s own waiver table lists 23 states for SNAP soda and candy limits, four of them vacated by a federal court in June
The roster of states approved to bar soda and candy from SNAP purchases now runs to 23 rows on a single federal page, but the...
SNAP’s standard deduction runs to $614 for larger households in Guam and $371 in Alaska, against $191 for the smallest Virgin Islands households
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) standard deduction for fiscal year 2027 reaches $614 for larger households in Guam, $371 for Alaska households of one...
SNAP’s gross income limit for one person is $2,162 a month in Alaska
Alaska households applying for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) from October 1, 2026 face a gross monthly income ceiling of $2,162 for a single...