Republicans Austin Scott of Georgia, Vance McCallister of Louisiana and Bob Gibbs of Ohio spoke critically of the program. Scott said there was “state-sponsored gaming of the system,” a reference to how state aid on utility bills can trigger additional food stamp benefits. Gibbs asked Robert Doar of the American Enterprise Institute to flesh out his belief, based on running public assistance programs in New York City, that, taken together, social supports “can reduce the incentive for someone to increase their hours or take regular, on-the-book employment.” Gibbs asked if people should have been ineligible but were paid under the table.
“It is a large number,” Doar told Gibbs, adding there “isn’t any question” it was a significant number. When pressed by Ohio Democrat Marcia Fudge, Doar said, “I don’t know the number…It’s something that needs to be studied.” Doar said categorical eligibility, which waives the asset test for applicants, should be replaced with a limit of $10,000 in assets, not counting a home and a car. He said the utility assistance program was abused by states.
During work on the 2014 farm policy law, House Republicans tried to eliminate categorical eligibility and shorten the time that able-bodied adults without children could receive food stamps. They said stricter rules were needed because enrollment soared during the 2008-09 recession and remains high. Defenders such as Fudge and Democrat Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, say sluggish economic and job growth are the reasons.
“SNAP is a powerful antipoverty program,” said Stacy Dean of the think tank Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, using the acronym for the official name for food stamps, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. She said ending categorical eligibility, a scapegoat for the surge in food stamp enrollment, would reduce enrollment by 6 percent.
Secretary Sidonie Squier of the New Mexico Department of Human Services said categorical eligibility should be eliminated. She is a part of a group of state welfare officials who advocate stricter eligibility rules and a requirement of 30 hours of work per week for able-bodied adults.
Click here to read the prepared testimony or to watch a video recording of the hearing.