Wyoming SNAP Cards Will Stop Covering Sweetened Soda on Feb. 1, 2027, Under a Two-Year USDA Waiver

USDA signed off on March 4, and the countdown now stands at less than three months: on Feb. 1, 2027, Wyoming SNAP benefits will no longer cover sweetened, carbonated beverages. The approval is a two-year waiver, which means the restriction is set to run for two years from its start unless the federal government or the state changes course.

The details are on the Food and Nutrition Administration’s Wyoming waiver page, updated Oct. 2, 2026. The approval letter is addressed to Gov. Mark Gordon and Korin Schmidt, director of the Wyoming Department of Family Services.

What the waiver changes, in USDA’s words

According to USDA, the waiver amends the SNAP definition of food for purchase to exclude “sweetened, carbonated beverages.” The effective date is Feb. 1, 2027, and the duration is two years. USDA’s page does not define the category beyond those words, and the full terms and conditions appear only in the linked approval document.

The federal agency says it will evaluate how the waiver affects participants and retailers, using data from the state and other sources. It plans quarterly evaluation reports, with data collection points and key metrics to be set with an evaluation contractor.

Wyoming’s entry in USDA’s table of food restriction waivers, updated Nov. 3, 2026, lists the same Feb. 1, 2027 date and the same restricted item. That table counts 23 states with approved waivers, each defining its own list. Wyoming’s is one of the narrower ones, covering beverages only, while Missouri’s, for example, includes candy and prepared desserts.

Where Wyoming sits on the calendar

Wyoming’s date lands in a crowded stretch. USDA’s table lists Montana, North Dakota, South Carolina and Virginia starting Nov. 1, 2026, and Nebraska starting Dec. 1, 2026, with candy added in Nebraska on March 1, 2027. After Wyoming’s Feb. 1, 2027 start come Kansas and Missouri on Feb. 15, 2027, then Hawaii and Ohio on April 1, 2027, and Nevada on Feb. 1, 2028.

Eight states had target dates earlier in 2026, according to the table, from Indiana and Utah on Jan. 1 to Arkansas on July 1, with Idaho, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Texas and Florida in between. Wyoming is among the later group.

This site has covered Kansas’s candy and soft drink restriction and Missouri’s list of restricted items, which show how much the definitions differ from state to state. Because each waiver carries its own list, a question about a specific purchase goes to the state agency that runs the program.

How the idea reached USDA

The restriction began as a legislative proposal. WyoFile reported in October 2025 that a bill draft reviewed by the Legislature’s Joint Labor, Health and Social Services Committee would require the Department of Family Services to request a federal waiver restricting certain purchases. The original draft targeted candy and soft drinks, and the committee chair, Rep. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams of Cody, successfully proposed broadening it to what the draft called accessory foods. The committee passed the draft 12-2.

The WyoFile account also recorded doubts. Schmidt warned that proceeding without added funding would force staff reassignments and could jeopardize the state’s low error rate, and Sen. Cheri Steinmetz of Torrington called the study government overreach. What USDA ultimately approved is narrower than the draft: sweetened, carbonated beverages only.

Wyoming’s caseload and who qualifies

USDA’s state-level participation table lists 24,903 Wyoming residents on SNAP in July 2026, an initial figure, down 5.8% from 26,435 in July 2025. USDA labels the June and July 2026 data preliminary and subject to significant revision. WyoFile reported an average of 28,364 recipients a month in its earlier reporting, 44% of them children, with food benefits that are fully federally funded at about $62 million a year.

The restriction applies to purchases with the benefit card, not to eligibility. USDA’s eligibility page, updated Nov. 3, 2026, lists the fiscal 2027 income limits for most households in the 48 contiguous states: gross monthly income of $1,729 for one person, $2,345 for two, $2,960 for three and $3,575 for four, plus a net-income test, with countable resources limited to $3,000, or $4,750 when a household member is 60 or older or disabled. Households with an elderly or disabled member only need to pass the net test.

Wyoming’s Department of Family Services says people apply with a paper application, which can be submitted to a local office, by mail, by fax or by email to [email protected]. Interviews are available by phone at 1-307-777-8550 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and in person at local offices.

Courts have already stopped some waivers

Not every approved restriction is moving ahead. USDA’s table says that on June 22, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ordered the approvals for Colorado, Iowa, Tennessee and West Virginia vacated and barred their implementation. Wyoming is not among the four listed under that order, and its Feb. 1, 2027 date stands on the page as of Nov. 3.

The state agency lists [email protected] as the contact for the program, according to the USDA table. Questions about what the card will cover on Feb. 1 go to the department.

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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.

Image: Boston Public Library – CC BY 2.0/Wikimedia Commons