Rob Undersander has been dining out on political outrage for more than a year with his story of how he purposely abused the food stamp system. House Republicans brought the wealthy Minnesotan to a congressional hearing on Thursday to support their arguments for SNAP reform. “Ridiculous stunt,” said Ohio Democrat Marcia Fudge, the panel’s chairwoman.
At issue was the Trump administration’s intention to restrict access to SNAP by cracking down on so-called categorical eligibility. The USDA is drafting a regulation to restrict “cat-el,” as the provision is known, although Congress rejected the idea last year as part of the five-year farm bill.
Cat-el, which was created in the 1996 welfare reform law, allows states to make SNAP benefits available to households with income below a state-set threshold; applicants still have to meet SNAP guidelines to receive food stamps. Critics say that states are too generous in funneling people into cat-el and that there should be a ceiling on recipients’ assets.
Fudge said conservatives drum up isolated instances, such as Undersander, to “paint a dishonest picture of greedy, shiftless welfare sponges” while ignoring the work requirements in place for able-bodied SNAP recipients. “Again, I ask, what do congressional Republicans and this administration have against poor people?”
Undersander, who claims to have property and savings worth more than $1 million, said he applied for, and received, $6,000 in food stamps, at up to $341 a month, over 19 months to illustrate how wealthy people could manipulate their income to qualify for SNAP. In an interview with Minnesota Public Radio, he said he and his wife gave $6,000 to charity to offset their SNAP benefits. Undersander’s story was cited by Republicans in the Minnesota legislature in 2018.
“Mr. Undersander is not alone,” said Republican Rep. Dusty Johnson of South Dakota. Johnson, who pronounced Undersander “the Minnesota Millionaire,” was at the House Agriculture subcommittee hearing, where he decried cat-el as an egregious “loophole.” Republican Rep. Ted Yoho of Florida called Undersander a whistleblower.
“The notion that people are clamoring to be poor enough to qualify for SNAP is laughable,” said Massachusetts Democrat Jim McGovern, a vocal SNAP advocate. SNAP benefits average $1.40 per meal — “not enough to buy a cup of coffee,” noted McGovern, who said Congress should be considering an increase in benefit levels rather than circumscribing eligibility.
To watch a video of the hearing, click here.
A Congressional Research Service report on categorical eligibility is available here.