The Trump administration proposed a 29 percent cut in food stamps on Monday, to be achieved by requiring more recipients to work at least 20 hours a week and by providing some benefits in the form of a box of food instead of letting people buy food themselves at grocery stores. The White House also asked Congress for stricter rules for access to free meals for low-income children at public schools.
In both instances — SNAP and child nutrition — the proposals were a repetition of previous unsuccessful initiatives. The proposal for broader application of SNAP work requirements, for example, first appeared in House Republican proposals for the 2018 farm bill. The USDA Harvest Box of food, a brainchild of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, was offered twice before and was ridiculed as unworkable.
“A growing economy produces more jobs, yet our safety net programs as currently structured are not doing enough to move low-income families from welfare to sustained independence,” said the USDA. It said SNAP enrollment would fall by 4.5 million people, or 13 percent from current levels, in the coming decade due to economic growth and tighter eligibility rules.
The Harvest Box would cut SNAP costs by $121.4 billion over 10 years, and states would have the option of including fresh products among the nonperishable foods, said the administration. The proposal for broader application of work rules would save $36.6 billion, it estimated. At present, SNAP participants, unless they are elderly, disabled, or a child, are required to register for work and accept a suitable job, if offered. So-called able-bodied adults ages 18 to 50 without dependents must work at least 20 hours a week to remain eligible for SNAP. The administration’s work proposal would apply to able-bodied adults ages 18 to 65.
“The budget continues bold proposals to reform work requirements for able-bodied adults … to promote self-sufficiency,” said the White House. “Under the proposal, adults would be required to work, participate in job training, or volunteer at least 20 hours a week in order to receive SNAP benefits.”
“Once again, the president has proposed a budget that would make steep cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and other federal safety net programs, cuts that if implemented, would harm the health and well-being of millions of people in our country,” said Ellen Vollinger of the anti-hunger Food Research and Action Center. “In the past, Congress has rejected such proposals and should do so again.”
For child nutrition, the White House said use of the Community Eligibility Provision, which allows schools in poor neighborhoods to serve free meals to every student, should be permitted only in schools where at least 40 percent of pupils are automatically eligible for free meals because of participation in SNAP or similar programs. “This would close the loophole that allows local educational agencies to combine entire districts or groups of otherwise ineligible schools with high-poverty schools to serve meals at no charge to all students,” it said.
In addition, the administration said school districts should conduct annual checks of 8 percent of the household applications for free or reduced-price lunch and breakfast, which it called “a modest increase from the current maximum of 3 percent.” The stepped-up verification would reduce error rates and save money, it said.
The White House gave far less prominence than usually seen in Washington to release of its budget package. At moments, it seemed as if the White House gave a budget and nobody came, including the host. President Trump’s major activities of the day were a session with state governors and a re-election rally in New Hampshire. He did not issue a statement on the budget. In the past, administrations have typically coordinated government-wide budget rollouts that begin with a White House news conference and include a blizzard of fact sheets.
“The budget shouldn’t just be dismissed as dead on arrival,” said Robert Greenstein, head of the think tank Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The document shows the policies the administration wishes to put into action, whether through legislation or regulation, he said.
Although rebuffed by Congress in the 2018 farm bill, the administration proposed three regulations to reduce SNAP spending. One, to take effect in the spring, would limit the ability of states to provide food stamps to able-bodied adults beyond the usual limit of three months of benefits in a three-year period unless they work at least 20 hours a week. Another would restrict the use of so-called categorical eligibility, which allows states to modify asset tests and income limits so people who receive social services can be considered for SNAP. Some 688,000 people would be affected by the 90-day limit and 3 million would be affected if “cat el” is changed.
The White House budget package is available here.
The USDA budget summary for fiscal 2021 is available here.