To avoid “extended dependency,” the Republican majority on the House Budget Committee would require food stamp recipients to work at least 80 hours a month or spend an equal amount of time in job training or workfare if they are able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs). The GOP’s budget package, scheduled for a vote today in committee, also would give states the power to run program as they wish.
The policy proposals are part of “Building a Better America,” a 63-page explanation of the proposed budget resolution for fiscal 2018. Congress has a target of approving the annual resolution by each April 15 but is months behind schedule due to GOP infighting over the size of cuts, with conservatives wanting cuts beyond the $203 billion in entitlements proposed for the new fiscal year. The resolution would oblige the House Agriculture Committee to cut mandatory spending by $10 billion over the next decade.
Rep. Jim McGovern, an antihunger leader in the House, said “if this is the budget and if this is what we’re going to see in the farm bill, a cut of $10 billion … then I predict right here and now that we will not have a farm bill. And I will certainly do everything I can to kill a farm bill that has a $10 billion cut in it,” said the Massachusetts Democrat.
In “Building a Better America,” Republicans on the Budget Committee propose stricter work requirements for welfare and for food stamps. “Anti-poverty programs should promote self-sufficiency, not extended dependency.” In urging enforcement of “SNAP (food stamp) work requirements,” the document cites a 2013 bill to eliminate waivers from work requirements. At present, ABAWDs are limited to 90 days of benefits in a three-year period unless they meet the work requirement and states are allowed to waive the 90-day limit during periods of high unemployment.
The Trump administration has proposed a 25 percent cut in food stamp funding with steps that include requiring states to pay part of the cost of benefits, restricting eligibility for food stamps, and restricting the availability of waivers to counties with annual jobless rates exceeding 10 percent.
“In past years, our proposals had little chance of becoming a reality because we faced a Democratic White House,” said Budget chairwoman Diane Black in unveiling the GOP plan. “But now with a Republican Congress and a Republican administration, now is the time to put forward a governing document with real solutions to address our biggest challenges.”
To read the House Budget Committee’s package of documents about its budget resolution, click here.
To watch the House Budget Committee meeting, scheduled for 10 a.m. ET, click here.