On Thursday the federal government starts a new fiscal year, and the numbers behind grocery benefits, court filings and holiday packages reset with it. Start with SNAP, the federal food-aid program: from October 1 a family of four in the 48 states and D.C. can receive up to $1,023 a month, $29 more than now. In Hawaii the ceiling goes the other way.

There is no shutdown on October 1; Public Law 119-103 funds the government through December 11, as Hugin reported on September 27. And the raise many retirees are waiting for, Social Security's 2027 cost-of-living adjustment, is not an October 1 change at all.

SNAP households: higher ceilings, except in Hawaii

The Agriculture Department's Food and Nutrition Administration sent states the new figures in an August 21 memo. They apply from October 1 through September 30, 2027.

In the 48 states and D.C.:

Maximum benefit: $306 for one person, up from $298; $1,023 for four, up from $994.
Minimum benefit for one or two people: $25, up from $24.
Standard deduction for households of one to three: $217, up from $209. The cap on the excess shelter deduction is $769, up from $744.
Gross income limit for a family of four: $3,575 a month, up from $3,483.
Asset limit: unchanged at $3,000, and $4,750, up from $4,500, where someone in the household is 60 or older or disabled.

Maximums also rise in Alaska, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Hawaii is the exception:

The maximum allotment for a family of four in Hawaii will decrease to $1,655.

That is $34 a month below this year's $1,689, and the memo's tables lower the ceiling for every household size: one person from $506 to $496, eight people from $3,040 to $2,979. Hawaii's minimum benefit slips from $41 to $40. Yet Hawaii's income limits go up, and its standard deduction and shelter cap "will also increase", in the memo's words. It gives no reason for the lower ceiling.

These are ceilings. What a household actually receives depends on its income and deductions.

Anyone mailing a package: about 6 percent more from October 4

The Postal Service's governors approved temporary increases averaging 6.0 percent for Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail and USPS Ground Advantage, at both retail and commercial prices, and for Parcel Select. The prices run from 12:00 a.m. Central Daylight Time on October 4 until 12:00 a.m. Central Standard Time on January 17, 2027, "at which time prices will be restored to approved levels". The decision covers only those domestic shipping products; the governors made no change to special services or international products.

People on Medicare: the sales season opens October 1

Federal rules let Medicare Advantage companies start marketing next year's plans on October 1, so expect ads and mailers for 2027 coverage from Thursday. The same rule bars plans from offering cash rebates, gifts above nominal value, or meals of any value. The window to switch plans runs October 15 through December 7.

The price list is another matter. In July the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said it would publish the 2027 plan landscape, with final average premiums, in "mid-to-late September, once all offerings are finalized". As of September 28, neither the agency's newsroom feed, which reached back to September 21, nor its drug coverage page, last changed September 8, carried it. One number is set: the national base premium for drug coverage, the starting point for each plan's premium, will be $41.33 in 2027.

Immigrants filing in immigration court: higher fees from October 1

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, law since July 4, 2025, added new fees to filings in the immigration courts and ordered them raised for inflation every year. A Justice Department notice, on public inspection today and printing September 29, applies this year's 3.4 percent, rounded down, to four Homeland Security forms filed in court:

Green card application (Form I-485): $1,590, up from $1,540.
Waiver of inadmissibility (Form I-601): $1,100, up from $1,070.
Temporary Protected Status (Form I-821): $520, up from $510.
Annual asylum fee: $105, up from $102. A first asylum application stays at $100.

These are only the fees Congress added. The regular Homeland Security fee is charged on top, and the court system's payment portal shows the two combined. An August 21 rule moves the courts' own fees the same way: appealing an immigration judge's decision costs $1,060 in all from October 1, $30 more than now.

Underpaying has a price. The court system will "continue to reject any filings that are not accompanied by a proper filing fee or request for an applicable fee waiver".

People fingerprinted for a job or license

From October 1 the FBI charges $15, up from $12, for a fingerprint-based criminal history check done for employment or licensing, and $13, up from $10, for volunteers. That is the FBI's share only; the notice does not set what a state or employer adds.

Federal prisoners and their families: September 30

A Bureau of Prisons rule effective September 30 lets eligible prisoners start earning First Step Act time credits, which can move them to prerelease custody or supervised release sooner, from the day their sentence begins, even while they wait to be sent to their assigned prison. The old rule started the clock only on arrival there, which courts including the First Circuit held conflicts with the law.

The bureau estimates an average of 23.81 days of potential credit, but says "this change does not mean that every eligible inmate will automatically begin earning Time Credits immediately after their sentence is imposed". Comments are due the same day, September 30.

Already done, or not yet

Student aid. The 2027-28 FAFSA went live September 23, ahead of the October 1 launch deadline in law. The Education Department says returning students will find their data pre-filled from earlier forms later this fall.
Living organ donors. For applications reviewed from September 30, reimbursement eligibility turns on the donor's own household income, not the recipient's. Hugin's separate record today has the details.
Disaster aid. FEMA's ceilings for disasters declared since October 1, 2025, $44,800 for housing and $44,800 for other needs, were filed only September 28; that is its own record today.
Social Security. The 2027 raise is not set. The agency's page still shows 2026's 2.8 percent. The adjustment follows a consumer price index from one third quarter to the next, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics is scheduled to release September's figures on October 14 at 8:30 a.m.

What the record does not say

Why Hawaii's SNAP ceiling falls. The memo does not explain, and it counts no households anywhere.
The full cost of a court filing. This desk did not read the Homeland Security fee schedule charged on top.
Individual postage prices. The governors' decision, as printed in the Federal Register, gives averages only; the new prices are in Mail Classification Schedule language posted with the Postal Regulatory Commission, which this desk did not read.
When the 2027 Medicare plan premiums or the 2027 Part B premium will appear. Neither was on the CMS pages read today; CMS may have posted material this desk did not find.
The final printed text. The immigration court notice is a public-inspection copy; the version printed September 29 could differ.