A cost-benefit analysis by USDA says its proposal for tighter eligibility rules for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program “may also negatively impact food security,” reported Politico. The USDA estimated 3.1 million people, or nearly 9 percent of SNAP recipients, would be denied benefits under its proposal, announced on Tuesday, to restrict access to SNAP through so-called categorical eligibility.
The USDA analysis estimated more than 13 percent of all SNAP households with elderly members would lose benefits under the proposed regulation. Families with children were less likely to lose eligibility, it said. Grocers would lose food sales because food stamp spending would drop by $2.5 billion a year.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told reporters that he does not believe food retailers will be hurt. “The people that are affected by this have resources other than that,” he said. In a USDA announcement of its proposal, Perdue said states abused categorical eligibility, created as part of welfare reform, “to include people who receive (SNAP) assistance who clearly don’t need it.”