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USDA Chief: Change to Federal Food Aid Program Will Help 'Restore Dignity of
Work'

Durin Hendricks

   WASHINGTON - Hundreds of thousands of unemployed or underemployed
   Americans will be dropped from a federal food aid program under a rule
   change announced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

   The new policy, approved on Wednesday as part of a package of proposed
   changes, would pressure states to implement work requirements for
   able-bodied adults without children at a time of low unemployment,
   instead of requesting a waiver. Until now, many states have been
   allowed to waive the work requirement because of the difficulty many
   food stamp recipients have encountered in finding employment in
   economically distressed areas.

   Sonny Perdue, the U.S. secretary of agriculture, said the changes are
   part of the administration's plans to "restore the dignity of work to a
   sizable segment of our population" and save taxpayer dollars. The rules
   change is estimated to save $5.5 billion over the next five years.

   "Of the 3 million able-bodied adults without dependent children
   currently getting food stamps," said Robert Rector of the conservative
   Heritage Foundation, "only about a third of them would be subject to
   this [USDA] work requirement."

   However, critics say the government is weakening a program that acts as
   a social safety net for millions of Americans. Individuals 18 to 49
   years old without children are unable to qualify for other welfare
   programs.

   "The Trump administration is abandoning this longstanding, bipartisan
   practice '¦ and replacing it with a much more restrictive rule that
   will increase hunger and destitution," said Robert Greenstein,
   president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal
   research institute.

   USDA's latest estimate is that 688,000 unemployed or underemployed
   individuals will fail to qualify for food aid from the Supplemental
   Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) under the changes to the waiver
   system.

   SNAP is also known as the food stamp program, although recipients now
   receive debit cards that can be used in place of money to buy food. The
   average recipient of food stamps received $127 a month, or $4.17 a day,
   in fiscal year 2018.

   Currently, able-bodied adults without children living in states without
   waivers can receive food stamps for no more than three months out of a
   three-year period without getting a job or participating in a job
   training program. States are allowed to grant waivers to people in
   areas that are economically distressed and have an inadequate job
   supply.

   But under the new rule approved by the Agriculture Department, an area
   would have to have an average unemployment rate that is a minimum of
   20% above the national average for a 24-month period.

   While technically the 688,000 participants are not going to be kicked
   out of the stamp program, the areas they live in will not be able to
   qualify for waivers to allow them to stay on the program.

   During fiscal 2018, an estimated 2.9 million able-bodied adults without
   dependents were participating in the food stamp program.

   What is SNAP?

   SNAP allows poorer households that are below the U.S. poverty line to
   buy fresh groceries and other goods. Households and individuals closer
   to the poverty line receive less than poorer households and
   Individuals.

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