Maryland’s Department of Human Services is warning food stamp households that one piece of paper can change a monthly benefit. Households with no one 60 or older and no one who is disabled have to provide a utility bill from the last 30 days to keep the full $572 standard utility allowance, the department says.
The department lays out the requirement on its page about important changes to SNAP benefits, written as the state adjusts to H.R. 1, the 2025 federal law President Trump signed. The page was last updated on October 16, 2026.
What the $572 allowance does in the benefit formula
Maryland DHS says most Marylanders receive a $572 Standard Utility Allowance, or SUA, when they apply for SNAP, the program many people still call food stamps. The allowance is not a payment. It is a standard amount for utility costs that the state counts against a household’s income when it works out the benefit.
The department says the allowance “reduces your income on the SNAP application, which increases your benefit amount.” A lower counted income means a larger benefit, which is why losing the full allowance matters to a household watching its grocery budget.
Does a Maryland household have to send a utility bill?
It depends on who lives in the home. If anyone in the household is 60 or older or has a disability, the new proof rule does not apply to that household. If no one is 60 or older or disabled, Maryland DHS says a bill dated within the last 30 days has to be provided, “otherwise your monthly SNAP benefit could be reduced.”
That puts working-age adults, single adults under 60 and families whose adults are all under 60 and not disabled in the group that should dig out a recent electric, gas or similar bill. The department’s wording is conditional, so a reduction is a risk without the proof, not an automatic cut.
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Why energy-assistance payments may not settle it
A related change comes from the same federal law. Minnesota’s Department of Children, Youth and Families, describing section 10103 of the 2025 reconciliation bill, says LIHEAP or similar state-funded energy payments “no longer automatically qualify households” for the heating and cooling standard utility allowance unless the household includes elderly or disabled members.
LIHEAP is the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. Maryland’s page does not spell out how that change plays out for Maryland households that get energy assistance, so a household in that position is a good one to raise with its caseworker.
What else H.R. 1 changes for Maryland SNAP
Maryland says SNAP feeds more than 680,000 people a month, including nearly 270,000 children, at an average benefit of $180 per customer. The same page says up to 80,000 additional Marylanders will need to report work hours to keep benefits, under a rule of 20 hours a week, 80 hours a month, or earnings of $217.50 a week.
The state also faces new costs. Maryland DHS says its administrative share rises by $57.5 million, to $172.5 million per year. If the state’s payment error rate lands in the top tier, it could owe about $240 million a year toward benefits at a 15 percent share. Its federally assessed error rate for fiscal 2024 is 13.64 percent. New Jersey’s human services division describes the tiers as 0, 5, 10 and 15 percent, set by each state’s payment error rate, starting October 1, 2027.
The department also says SNAP-Ed, a $6.4 million effort with the University of Maryland that reached 424,000 Marylanders, has ended.
Where Maryland households can ask about the bill
Maryland DHS directs questions to the local department of social services or to its customer service line at 1-800-332-6347 (TTY 1-800-735-2258). The page names no deadline for the utility bill and does not say how to deliver it.
That leaves the practical question of when the 30-day clock is measured. Maryland DHS has not answered it on the page, and a household that waits for a notice may find its benefit calculated without the allowance.
Sent your utility bill yet?
Maryland households with no one 60 or older or disabled that skip the proof risk a smaller monthly benefit, the state says. A bill that is older than 30 days, or never sent, is an easy detail to miss in a pile of renewal mail.
The SNAP & Medicaid Renewal Organizer was built for that paperwork. It includes a renewal document checklist, a renewal and reporting calendar and a pack for each of 51 states, so the bill, the dates and the caseworker’s requests stay in one place.
Get the renewal document checklist for the Maryland utility-bill proof →
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
