After two years of hearings on the “past, present and future” of food stamps, the premier U.S. antihunger program, House Agriculture Committee Michael Conaway says states “must ensure those who can work do.” “There is concern that general work requirements are not adequately enforced,” said Conaway in a 66-page report, referring to provisions dating from 1971 that working-age recipients should register for work and accept a suitable job if it is offered.
Conaway said in a statement “we have found that the program is working well in many areas but there are a number of areas in need of improvement.” The report, while summarizing the hearings, did not make direct recommendations for legislative changes.
Traditionally, food stamps are overhauled as part of the panoramic farm bills written every few years. Conservative House Republicans tried to split food stamps from agriculture programs during debate on the 2014 farm law and to make the largest cuts in food stamps in a generation. Massachusetts Rep. Jim McGovern, a leading defender of food stamps, says if Republicans try to “block-grant or cut the program or put more hurdles in place to deny people a benefit to put food on their table — be prepared for one hell of a fight.”
“The chairman intends to reauthorize all programs under the committee’s jurisdiction before they expire,” a Conaway aide said when asked when Conaway would move on food stamps. The next farm bill is due in 2018.
The Conaway report listed findings in four areas. The second, “Climbing the economic ladder through work,” discussed the general work requirements and the comparatively small portion of food stamp funding that goes into employment and training (E&T) programs. “While some form of work requirements have historically been mandated, it is up to states as to how they are carried out. A recurring critique of work requirements is the degree to which they are enforced by states,” said the report. “States must engage in greater oversight of the enforcement of the general work requirements to ensure that those who can work do.”
The 2014 farm law provided money for pilot projects to improve the E&T program. “Successful E&T programs paired with work requirements promote the importance of work and help maintain program integrity,” said the report in Finding 2b.
A large majority of food stamp recipients are children, elderly or disabled. The general work requirement does not apply to them. The 1996 welfare reform law limited able-bodied adults without dependents to three months of benefits in a three-year period, except during periods of high unemployment.
Some 43.6 million Americans, or roughly 1 in 7, receive food stamps, which help poor people buy food. The average benefit is $127.76 a month.