Facts on Food Stamp Work Requirements
The rhetoric has been heated on both sides of the aisle as House Republicans pursue a bill that would expand the work requirements necessary to be eligible for food assistance.
As a result of the GOP-proposed work requirements, 1.2 million fewer people a month would access Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, formerly known as food stamps, by 2028, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. In February, the most recent month for which we have figures, 40 million people received SNAP benefits, according to the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service.
Republican proponents tout the bill as a step toward moving people away from government dependence to work. Democratic opponents of the bill say it adds unnecessary layers of bureaucracy and will cause hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of the country’s most vulnerable citizens to go hungry.
The facts cited by the two sides appear to conflict wildly. Here we sort through some of the rhetoric from both sides.
What’s in the Bill?
The wholesale overhaul of the SNAP program is part of the latest farm bill, H.R. 2, the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018, introduced by Republican Rep. Mike Conaway, who chairs the House Committee on Agriculture. The committee approved the bill, but it has not been voted on by the full House.
Under current SNAP rules implemented in 1996, able-bodied adults without dependents, or ABAWDs, between the ages of 18 and 49 are required to work at least 20 hours a week or participate in a qualified job-training or volunteer program in order to be eligible for more than three months of benefits over a three-year period. Benefits are cut off after three months if the work requirements are not met and the applicant has not received a waiver (more on those waivers later).
The proposed GOP law would raise the age of those subject to
