Despite continued criticism of fraud and abuse within Illinois’ SNAP program, Democratic lawmakers have introduced legislation to create a new, state-funded cash benefit for households that lose or see reductions in federal SNAP benefits under updated work requirement rules.

Senate Bill 3277 would require the Illinois Department of Human Services to establish the Families Receiving Emergency Support for Hunger (FRESH) program. Under the proposal, households whose SNAP benefits are terminated or reduced due to failure to meet work requirements would receive a cash payment. This will be calculated as three times the amount of the lost or reduced SNAP benefit and loaded onto an Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card.

The proposal comes as updated federal SNAP work requirement rules took effect February 1, 2026, expanding the definition of Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWD). Under the new rules, ABAWDs who are not meeting work requirements and do not qualify for an exemption may receive SNAP for only three months within a three-year period, with some recipients potentially beginning to lose eligibility as early as May 1, 2026.

Senate Republicans argue SNAP eligibility standards exist to prioritize help for those who truly need it and to prevent abuse of a taxpayer-funded program. However, this legislation completely ignores those standards and allows people to take advantage of the system at a time when Illinois is already struggling with program fraud and accuracy. Since 2017, Illinois’ error rate has nearly doubled, reaching 11.56 percent in 2024.

Senate Republicans argue that before Illinois creates a new taxpayer-funded workaround, the state should focus on fixing the underlying problems with SNAP by improving verification, strengthening oversight, and reducing error rates, rather than layering new state payments into the same EBT delivery system.

Senate Bill 3277 has been assigned to the Appropriations Committee in the Senate and awaits further action.