USDA moves to tighten restrictions on food stamps
290 views · Published 25 December 2018 · 2:10 · Indexed 5 October 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · News & Politics
(20 Dec 2018) The Trump administration is setting out to do what this year's farm bill didn't: tighten work requirements for millions of Americans who receive federal food assistance. The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Thursday is proposing a rule that would restrict the ability of states to exempt work-eligible adults from having to obtain steady employment to receive food stamps. The proposed rule change makes it harder for states to waive work requirements in areas that have high unemployment, currently defined as 20 percent above the national average. Currently, able-bodied adults ages 18-49 without children are required to work 20 hours a week to maintain their SNAP benefits. Wisconsin already made a similar change to the work waiver in April 2015. Maureen Fitzgerald, Director of Advocacy at Hunger Task Force in Milwaukee, says since then nearly 100,000 people have lost food stamp aid. LaTonia Bully, 49, of Cudahy, Wis., is a substitute teacher who can barely make the 20 hour work requirement because of two car accidents that have left her in a lot of back pain. She worries she will lose her benefits if she doesn't meet work requirement because food is expensive. She says the change now on the federal level makes her worried for others. "You can't say you're for the people, when you're okay with somebody not eating not being able to take them care of themselves," she said. Work-eligible able-bodied adults without dependents can currently receive only three months of SNAP benefits in a three-year period if they don't meet the 20-hour work requirement. But states with an unemployment rate of 10 percent or higher or a demonstrable lack of sufficient jobs can waive those limitations. The USDA's proposed rule would strip states' ability to issue waivers unless a city or county has an unemployment rate of 7 percent or higher. The waivers would be good for one year and would require the governor to support the request. States would no longer be able to bank their 15 percent exemptions. The new rule also would forbid states from granting waivers for geographic areas larger than a specific jurisdiction. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/06e2bbb10d2b0491b5362f3d34cbbea7
