Welcome to the Monday, July 14, 2025, Brew.
By: Lara Bonatesta
Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:
- A look at SNAP and Medicaid work requirements provisions from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act
- Incumbent Jason Miyares and Jerrauld Jones are running for attorney general of Virginia on Nov. 4
- Did you know that Kamala Harris (D) cast more tiebreaking votes in the U.S. Senate than any other vice president?
A look at SNAP and Medicaid work requirements provisions from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act
President Donald Trump (R) signed H.R. 1, a budget reconciliation bill titled the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA) into law on July 4. One of the areas of the bill that is getting the most media attention is its provisions that require states to implement work requirements for Medicaid by Jan. 1, 2027, and its provisions that change the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) work requirement exemptions for able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWD).
Ballotpedia provides in-depth coverage of work requirement policies across major public assistance programs to help readers understand how such policies are structured, the political debates around them, and their implementation. To learn more about the policies at both the federal and state levels, check out our new, extensive resource page: Work Requirements for Public Assistance.
Proponents of work requirements argue that they are necessary to ensure that benefits are provided to the truly needy.
Opponents of work requirements argue that they harm the truly needy by increasing the amount of paperwork and red tape a person must navigate in order to receive benefits.
Here’s a look at what OBBBA does.
Medicaid
Before the OBBBA, there were no federal work requirements for Medicaid, but states could apply for a waiver to implement state-specific policies, including work requirements.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reviews states’ waiver applications to determine whether the stated goals are aligned with Medicaid objectives.
Before the enactment of the OBBBA, one state—Georgia—had implemented work requirements after receiving a waiver from CMS. Arkansas previously implemented work requirements in 2018, but the policy was blocked in 2019 after a federal judge ruled it unlawful. In total, 22 states tried to implement work requirements, applying for waivers during the first Trump Administration (13 of which were approved), but the Biden administration later directed the agency to withdraw all approved waivers.
Georgia implemented its work requirements in July 2023, after a federal judge ruled in the state’s favor against the Biden administration’s decision to withdraw the CMS’s approval.
According to KFF, before the first Trump Administration, the CMS had not approved any waivers to implement work requirements.
The map below shows states that have applied for this waiver before, along with current waiver data as of July 9.
Of the nine states with announced waivers, submitted waivers, or active work requirements, eight have a Republican trifecta and one – Arizona– has a divided government.
The new Medicaid work requirements will require adults ages 19-64 to do at least one of the following to receive benefits:
- enroll in an educational program at least half-time,
- earn a monthly income of at least 80 times the federal hourly minimum wage, or
- work, do community service, participate in a work program, or do a combination of these for 80 hours a month.
Non-compliance with the community engagement requirements can result in the denial of an application or disenrollment.
SNAP
Before the OBBBA, SNAP had two types of work requirements: general work requirements and able-bodied adult without dependents (ABAWD) work requirements. (Click here to learn more about both types.)
For the second type, people who did not meet the work requirement were limited to receiving SNAP benefits for three months in a three-year period. After reaching this time limit, the person would lose eligibility for benefits unless they started meeting the work requirement.
States can apply for waivers to the time limit in areas with an unemployment rate over 10% or insufficient jobs available. This allows able-bodied adults without dependents to continue receiving SNAP benefits beyond the three-month limit. Waivers can apply to an entire state or only in certain areas. Waivers do not waive the general SNAP work requirements. The map below shows which states have time limit waivers for the third quarter of 2025.
Three states have full waivers – California, Illinois, and Nevada. California and Illinois have Democratic trifectas, and Nevada has a divided government.
Twenty-five states have partial waivers, including 13 with Democratic trifectas, four with Republican trifectas, and eight with divided governments.
Twenty-two states have no waivers – including 19 with Republican trifectas and three with divided governments.
The OBBBA makes the following changes to the exceptions to the ABAWD work requirements under Section 6(o)(3) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008:
An individual is exempt if they are:
- under 18 or over 65 years of age,
- medically certified as physically or mentally unfit for employment,
- responsible for a dependent child under 14 years of age,
- exempt from general SNAP work requirements,
- pregnant, or
- an Indian, Urban Indian, or Californian Indian as defined by the Indian Health Care Improvement Act.
Exemptions were removed for individuals who are:
- currently homeless,
- veterans,
- 55 to 64 years of age,
- responsible for a dependent child who is older than 13 years of age,
- 24 years of age or younger who were in foster care under the responsibility of a State on the date of attaining 18 years of age (or such higher age as the State has elected).
Click here to learn more about Work requirements policies in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Incumbent Jason Miyares and Jerrauld Jones are running for attorney general of Virginia on Nov. 4
As part of our ongoing coverage of battleground elections, here’s a look at the general election for Attorney General of Virginia on Nov. 4.
Incumbent Jason Miyares (R) and Jerrauld Jones (D) are running.
According to the Associated Press’ Olivia Diaz, Virginia’s odd-year elections are “seen as referendums on the party in power before Congress heads into midterm elections. … Democrats’ hold on Virginia has slipped in recent years, moving it close to swing-state status nationally. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin beat former Gov. Terry McAuliffe in 2021. Still, Democrats have history on their side: The party of the sitting president typically suffers defeat in Virginia’s statewide races. And considering Trump has never won the state, Democrats are probably better positioned to make gains.”
Miyares was elected attorney general in 2021. Miyares said he “secured over $1 billion in opioid settlements” and “launched Operation Ceasefire … a multifaceted approach to fighting violent crime by focusing on violence intervention in communities and aggressive prosecution of violent gun crimes.” Miyares casts himself as the public safety candidate, saying, “More Virginians are alive today than when I took office because our murder rate has dropped one-third… in our targeted ceasefire cities, [it] has dropped 66 percent.”
Jones was an assistant attorney general in the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia and represented the 89th District in the Virginia House of Delegates from 2018 to 2021. Jones said he is running “to protect Virginia families — from crime and violence, corporate price gouging, and politicians with extreme agendas attacking our rights and Virginia workers.” As an assistant attorney general in Washington, D.C., Jones said he “took on the gun lobby to keep families safe from violent crime, sued corporate special interests to prevent higher grocery prices, and went after big banks and slumlords preying on consumers.”
The results of this election and the state’s gubernatorial election will determine Virginia’s triplex status. A triplex is when one political party holds the governor, attorney general, and secretary of state offices. In Virginia, the governor appoints the secretary of the commonwealth.
Virginia switched from a Democratic to a Republican triplex following the 2021 elections of Youngkin and Miyares. Youngkin appointed Kay Coles James (R) secretary of the commonwealth when he took office in 2022. The state will remain a Republican triplex if Miyares and the Republican gubernatorial nominee, Winsome Earle-Sears, win the elections. It will become a Democratic triplex if Jones and the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, Abigail Spanberger, win the elections. If one Republican and one Democrat win either of the races, Virginia will have a divided government.
There are 25 Republican triplexes, 20 Democratic triplexes, and five divided governments where neither party holds triplex control.
Virginia is the only state holding an election for attorney general in 2025. Ten states held elections for attorney general in 2024. Nationally, there are 28 Republican attorneys general, 21 Democratic attorneys general, and one nonpartisan attorney general.
Click here to see our full coverage of the race.
Did you know that Kamala Harris (D) cast more tiebreaking votes in the U.S. Senate than any other vice president?
Between 2021 and 2025, Harris broke a tie in the U.S. Senate 33 times, exceeding the record of 32 set by John C. Calhoun in the 19th century. The majority of Harris’ tiebreaking votes, 26, were cast during the 117th Congress, when the U.S. Senate had a 50-50 partisan makeup. She cast the rest of her votes during the 118th Congress, when the U.S. Senate had a 51-49 Democratic majority.
Under Article I, Section 3, Clause 4 of the U.S. Constitution, the vice president of the United States also serves as the president of the Senate.
Vice President J.D. Vance (R) most recently cast a tiebreaking vote on July 1, when the U.S. Senate deadlocked 50-50 on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The Act passed because of Vance’s vote. President Donald Trump (R) signed it into law on July 4.
Vance has broken five tiebreaks as vice president since taking office in January.
Click here to learn more about the history of vice presidential tiebreaking votes.