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In response to the flooding on July 4, Texas is increasing the number of people who can buy hot meals with SNAP benefits.
Usually, SNAP recipients cannot use the Lone Star Card to purchase hot food or ready to eat meals. Last week, however, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission received permission from the USDA to temporarily expand SNAP benefits to include hot meals in seven counties affected by flooding.
On Wednesday, the state announced that the temporary SNAP expansion applies to 26 more counties in the Hill Country flood zones, now totaling 33 counties.
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The list now includes Bandera, Bastrop, Bell, Blanco, Brown, Burnet, Caldwell, Coke, Concho, Edwards, Gillespie, Hays, Irion, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, Lampasas, Lee, Llano, Mason, McCulloch, Menard, Milam, Mills, Reagan, Real, Runnels, San Saba, Schleicher, Sterling, Tom Green, Travis, and Williamson counties.
The hot food list includes items like rotisserie chicken, cooked deli items, and other purchases that are hot or ready to eat at the point of sale.
Michael Guerra, the chief philanthropy officer at the San Antonio Food Bank, praised the decision: “If you are a low-income household and you were displaced, it's tough to get the raw ingredients to cook at home, because you might not be at your home, you might not have a home. So this allows a low-income family who is displaced to still use some of those SNAP dollars and get prepared foods, which is a very, very good thing.”
The SNAP expansion will expire Aug. 14. It does not change SNAP eligibility requirements.
Gov. Greg Abbott explained the decision in a statement on Wednesday: “As communities across the state begin to recover and rebuild from flood damage, Texas is working tirelessly to ensure that impacted Texans can feed their families. Texas remains unrelenting in our support of those impacted by these tragic floods, and we will continue to provide all available resources to help them rebuild and recover. Together, we are Texas strong.”
Although the state increased access to hot foods via this measure, in June Abbott took a different stance over federally funded benefit programs surrounding food.
One month ago, he line-item vetoed funding for the Summer EBT Program, which provides low-income households with $120 per eligible child to pay for groceries while school is out of session. He cited uncertainty over future federal funding for the program as the reason for his veto.
Thirty-seven other U.S. states participated in the program in 2025.
