Tennessee Applies to USDA for New SNAP Waiver
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On Wednesday, September 30, the Tennessee Department of Human Services alerted TGCSA that it would be submitting, later that day, a new application for a waiver from USDA to administer Tennessee’s SNAP program differently. While slightly different, this application is essentially a redo of the waiver TDHS applied for in August 2025. That application was approved in December 2025, and required changes in what food and beverage items could be purchased with SNAP benefits.
View TDHS’s application HERE. Tennessee SNAP retailers scrambled to attempt to comply with the original waiver by its July 31 deadline. But on June 22, 2026, the federal District Court in Washington, D.C., vacated Tennessee’s waiver, and similar waivers for four other states, over procedural missteps by USDA, and for broader legal principals. While TGCSA had been planning on contingencies should the D.C. District Court’s ruling get overturned, there had been no indication that the Lee Administration would attempt to start over with a new application. Our administration contacts have now informed us that the new application was prepared and submitted at the request of USDA. The new application, while similar to the original, differs in a few ways. The definitions of foods and beverages ineligible for purchase with SNAP benefits are somewhat narrower. It sets the compliance deadline for October 1, 2027. The waiver’s articulated timeline lists USDA approval coming in February 2027, but we anticipate something sooner. It also changes the restricted-product definitions, referring to “sugar” without expressly listing cane sugar, corn syrup, or high fructose corn syrup as the original approval did. The application expressly exempts all infant formulas. As with the original waiver, implementation of the state’s policy falls to Tennessee’s SNAP retailers.
TGCSA views this new application as a way of getting around the action of the D.C. District Court. By filing a slightly different, but distinct, new waiver, USDA and Tennessee can start over with something that, in theory, corrects the legal problems of the original. We are not sure that it achieves that possible objective. USDA is being careful this time to observe the administrative requirements that it flouted originally. TGCSA is monitoring the Federal Register for the required public notice and opportunity to comment. Once USDA publishes submission instructions and a deadline, we will coordinate with SNAP retailer members to ensure their concerns are heard. Considering obvious legal vulnerabilities in USDA’s approach, there is no guarantee that a waiver will go into effect one year from now. TGCSA is working to protect its members from this costly and burdensome mandate on SNAP retailers. More to come. |
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