The Trump administration would oust one in every 12 SNAP recipients, a total of 3.1 million people, under a plan released today to restrict access to food stamps through so-called categorical eligibility. “Some states are taking advantage of a loophole” to load SNAP rolls, said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, but an anti-hunger advocate said that categorical eligibility “helps struggling people afford a basic diet.”
Brandon Lipps, the USDA official who oversees food stamps, said the government would save $25 billion a year by reining in categorical eligibility, which was created as part of welfare reform in 1996. Congress rejected tighter rules when it passed the 2018 farm bill, but Lipps told reporters that the proposed rule “is within the discretion Congress granted to the secretary.” The White House called for stricter rules, to save an estimated $3 billion annually, when it released its budget package on March 12.
The proposal was expected to appear in the Federal Register on Wednesday, with a 60-day comment period to follow. The White House has also proposed more stringent enforcement of the 30-day limit on food stamps for able-bodied adults without children who do not work at least 20 hours a week.
“This rule would take food away from families, prevent children from getting school meals, and make it harder for states to administer food assistance,” said Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, the senior Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee. “The administration should stop undermining the intent of Congress and instead focus on implementing the bipartisan farm bill that the president signed into law.”
Forty states employ categorical eligibility to streamline the administration of social welfare programs. Under “Cat El,” if someone is eligible for assistance, they can be automatically considered for food stamps. The usual asset limits for SNAP do not apply to these applicants, though they still must have a low enough income under SNAP calculations to qualify for benefits. Critics, often political conservatives, say states find ways, such as handing out brochures or allowing high gross incomes, to qualify people for Cat El without actually providing assistance.
Under the administration proposal, Cat El would be restricted to people who receive substantial and ongoing welfare assistance, said Lipps, an acting deputy undersecretary. The threshold would be at least $50 a month, with aid guaranteed for six months. Three types of non-cash assistance would also be accepted: subsidized work programs, childcare assistance, or work supports.
Lipps said that “3.1 million [people], we estimate, will be coming off the rolls.” At latest count, 36 million Americans were receiving food stamps, so the administration plan would reduce enrollment by nearly 9 percent, or roughly one in 12 recipients. Perdue said benefits should go to the needy. “Too often states have misused this flexibility without restraint.”
“That’s a pretty big cut,” said Stacy Dean of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a think tank. “Bottom line, if you look at the 3 million, are they needy? … They struggle to afford food.” Cat El allows food stamps for households with gross income above the usual SNAP limit but with high housing and childcare costs, she said.
Almost all people receiving food stamps through Cat El would be eligible under SNAP rule, said Elaine Waxman, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute, during a House hearing in June. She cited work by Mathematica Policy Research showing that “only 3.1 percent of all SNAP households and 3.4 percent of all SNAP individuals would have been income ineligible if noncash BBCE [the type of Cat El now in use] were eliminated. Moreover, households that would have been income ineligible received less than 1 percent of SNAP benefits. … People who come into SNAP through BBCE reflect important populations we need to support,” said Waxman.
Like House Republicans, Perdue cited the example of a wealthy Minnesota man who enrolled in SNAP with the goal of showing the program could be abused.