For a family of three, that's the difference between $2,177 a month and $2,512 a month.
The new rules took effect July 1 after Cuomo first proposed them in January.
About 750,000 families statewide could benefit from the expansion, according to the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, which administers food stamps, now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Speakers at Thursday's news conference said the change would allow working families to start earning a little more money without fear of being cut off from benefits they still need to help feed their families.
"These are people who work and still struggle to put food on the table," said Linda Bopp, executive director of Hunger Solutions New York. "These are parents and caregivers who skip meals so their children can have enough to eat."
The eligibility change was one of several recommendations from an anti-hunger task force convened by Cuomo. The revised limit is expected to yield as much as $688.5 million in additional federally funded SNAP benefits for as many as 750,000 people in New York. The change is not expected to come at an additional direct cost to state government.
There are roughly 1 million New Yorkers who earn income, but still can't afford to feed their families, said Joel Berg, executive director of Hunger Free America.
"There is an epidemic — an epidemic — of the working hungry in New York state and throughout the country," he said.
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