OAR 461-145-0170: Energy Assistance Payments

(1) Except in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), all energy assistance payments or allowances made under any federal, state, or local law are excluded as income and as a resource. (2) In the SNAP program an energy assistance payment (see OAR 461-001-0015) or weatherization assistance payment (see OAR 461-001-0015) provided under state law is treated as follows: (a) Excluded as income and a resource when the filing group (see OAR 461-110-0370) includes an individual who meets the SNAP definition of disabled (see OAR 461-001-0015) or elderly (see OAR 461-001-0015). (b) When the filing group does not include an individual who meets the SNAP definition of disabled or elderly : (A) A one-time payment or other payment that is lump sum income (see 461-001-0000) is treated in accordance with OAR 461-140-0120. (B) Ongoing payments are countable as unearned income. (3) In the SNAP program an energy assistance payment or weatherization assistance payment provided under federal law is excluded as income and a resource. (4) SNAP eligibility provisions in sections (2) and (3) of this rule implement section 10103 of Pub. L. 119-21, 139 Stat. 72 (2025), and are applied to existing SNAP cases as follows: (a) For a benefit group whose SNAP eligibility is based on an application with a filing date (see OAR 461-115-0040) of July 4, 2025, or after, the Department shall redetermine SNAP eligibility to apply the provisions of this rule. (b) For a benefit group whose SNAP eligibility is based on an application with a filing date before July 4, 2025, the Department shall apply the provisions of this rule when SNAP eligibility is redetermined for any reason. (5) See former OAR 461-135-0665 for SNAP eligibility provisions and effective dates that implement section 10103 of Pub. L. 119-21, 139 Stat. 72 (2025) in this rule for the time period October 1, 2025, through March 18, 2026.