When Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told a National Press Club luncheon this week that food stamps should not be “a permanent lifestyle” for able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs), he may have hinted at a forthcoming USDA proposal: “Modifying ABAWD time-limit waivers with the goal of moving individuals to work as the best solution for poverty.” The USDA disclosed the upcoming proposal without any details on the website of the White House budget office.
The USDA said it would request public input on how to modify the current limit of 90 days of benefits in a three-year period to ABAWDs who do not work at least 80 hours a month or spend equivalent time in workfare or job training. States can waive the 90-day limit in areas where the unemployment rate tops 10 percent or when there are insufficient jobs. Publication of the USDA initiative is scheduled for “Fall 2017.”
Perdue told the Press Club audience that he believes a bipartisan majority of Americans would support stricter limits on food stamps for ABAWDs. “One of the things I think you’ll see is a change regarding the ability of able-bodied adults to rely on food stamps continually,” he said when asked about possible changes in federal supports.
A food stamp expert said the USDA might seek to remove “insufficient jobs” as a justification for waiving the 90-day limit. That would be similar to an administration proposal in May that would have restricted waivers to counties with an annual jobless rate exceeding 10 percent. “They are consistent in wanting to roll back waivers,” said the expert.
The USDA plans to issue a so-called advanced notice of proposed rulemaking, an approach that could allow it to gather public comment before offering a proposal. Although the initiative has already been given a regulatory tracking number, it is listed as having “pre-rule” status. The agency said it would not discuss the initiative until it is published.
ABAWDs are a frequent target of conservative Republican lawmakers who say the food stamp program is unduly expensive and states are lax in enforcing work rules.
House Agriculture chairman Michael Conaway plans “meaningful reforms,” including stricter eligibility rules, in food stamps as part of the 2018 farm bill. The committee’s new farm bill homepage say the legislation will “create a ladder of opportunity” for recipients “that rewards employment and avoids trapping people in poverty.” The bill also would address benefit cliffs and the root causes of hunger, the homepage says.
Some 41 million Americans are enrolled in food stamps, the largest U.S. anti-hunger program, at latest count with an average monthly benefit of $125. The program cost $68 billion in fiscal 2017.
The USDA listed its initiative on food stamps are part of the government’s annual catalog of regulatory actions planned in the coming year. The White House posted the “Current Regulatory Plan” in conjunction with the announcement that it had issued 67 deregulatory actions and only three new regulations under President Trump’s executive order to eliminate two regulations for each new one. The USDA said it had wiped out five regulations and issued no new rules under the rubric of the executive order.
In its list of initiatives for the coming year, the USDA said it wanted to give food stores more leeway to meet requirements to stock healthy foods if they accept food stamps and to modernize egg and pork inspection systems.
To read the USDA regulatory agenda, click here.
For a list of both rescinded and new regulations, organized by federal department and presidentially controlled agency, click here.
The White House list of targets for regulatory savings in fiscal 2018 is available here.