Author: Elizabeth Blessing
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Eight states already limit what food stamps buy, starting with Indiana and Utah on January 1 and Arkansas on July 1
USDA’s waiver table, updated October 2, 2026, now shows eight states where SNAP benefits no longer stretch to certain drinks and sweets. Indiana and Utah began on January 1. Idaho and Oklahoma followed on February 15, Louisiana on February 18, Texas on April 1, Florida on April 20 and Arkansas on July 1. Eleven more…
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Treasury finished auto-enrolling children into Trump Accounts on October 1 and says over 60 million more eligible children now have one waiting to be claimed
Treasury announced on October 1, 2026 that automatic enrollment for Trump Accounts is complete, and Secretary Scott Bessent put a number on it: “over 60 million more eligible children now have an account ready to be claimed.” The word that carries the weight is “claimed.” An automatically created account holds no seed money and accepts…
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Medicare’s $90 rebate counts per enrollee, not per household, so two Original Medicare members at one address each get one, most by direct deposit on or around October 8
Medicare’s $90 rebate has no household line on it. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services counts 20.8 million people, not 20.8 million addresses, and the payment is made one enrollee at a time. Two Original Medicare members sharing a home are therefore two separate rebates, most of them arriving by direct deposit on or…
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Leslie’s filed for Chapter 11 and is closing 76 stores, but says gift cards and Pool Perks rewards still count
Leslie’s, a pool-supply retailer with more than 900 physical locations, went to bankruptcy court on September 30, and the customer questions started the same day. Leslie’s, Inc. says its remaining stores stay open outside a group of 76 it is shutting, and the company says gift cards and Pool Perks rewards will still be honored.…
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Walmart is offering a full refund or store credit on more than 4.4 million Expert Grill brushes sold since January 2021
Walmart has recalled approximately 4,477,655 Expert Grill brushes, a figure that clears 4.4 million, and the retailer is the one handing back the money. The brushes were sold at Walmart stores and on Walmart.com between January 2021 and August 2026 for prices from $1 to $28. Owners are told to stop using them immediately, and…
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A Michigan woman is accused of taking $121,980 in Social Security from the disabled uncle she served as representative payee for
Most Social Security checks go straight to the person they belong to, but for a beneficiary judged unable to manage money, the agency appoints someone else to receive and spend them. A federal complaint now accuses one of those appointees, a Michigan woman named Laura Whisenant, of taking $121,980 from the disabled uncle whose benefits…
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The IRS says filers earning $89,000 or less can use guided Free File software at no cost
Tax season feels far away on the first weekend of October, yet the IRS keeps a free federal filing route running all year for returns that are still outstanding. The agency’s guided software option is limited to filers with an adjusted gross income of $89,000 or less, and the window for the 2025 tax year…
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Kentucky set its 2027 standard deduction at $3,470, $110 more than this year
Kentucky now has a firm number for the standard deduction that applies to tax year 2027: $3,470. The Department of Revenue announced it on September 11, 2026, as a routine inflation adjustment, and the increase over the current year is $110. No new rate, no new form and no new filing step came with it,…
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South Carolina now taxes the first $30,000 of taxable income at 1.99 percent and starts from federal adjusted gross income
South Carolina’s individual income tax is being rebuilt for the 2026 tax year, and the most visible piece is a new rate table. The first $30,000 of South Carolina taxable income is taxed at 1.99 percent, and the return no longer begins from federal taxable income. It begins from federal adjusted gross income, the number…
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Mississippi’s income tax rate on earnings above $10,000 drops to 3.75 percent in 2027
Mississippi’s individual income tax schedule steps down again on January 1, 2027. For tax year 2027 the state is scheduled to tax taxable income above $10,000 at 3.75 percent, one quarter of a percentage point below the 4 percent set for 2026. The first $10,000 of taxable income is taxed at zero in every year…