In budget proposals in 2017 and 2018, President Trump tried to slash funding for SNAP by about $200 billion over 10 years — roughly one-fourth of its total funding — through such steps as tougher eligibility rules. Now, with Trump close to unveiling his fiscal 2020 budget package, the “hunger community” is concerned about a renewed call for massive cuts.
The White House usually sends its budget to Congress in early February, but it will be delayed this year by the partial government shutdown. Trump is scheduled to deliver the State of the Union address next Tuesday.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said last fall that he’d like another chance to persuade Congress to try “America’s Harvest Box,” a box of processed and canned foods for SNAP households that would replace half of the benefits they use to buy groceries. The Harvest Box was the centerpiece of last year’s proposed $213 billion in cuts, which topped the $193 billion sought in 2017. Part of the savings would have come from forcing states to pay 20 percent of SNAP costs.
Due to the crush of events — final negotiations over the 2018 farm policy law, the administration proposal for stricter time limits on SNAP benefits for able-bodied adults without dependents who do not work at least 20 hours a week, and the partial federal shutdown that did not resolve questions over USDA funding for fiscal 2019 — activists and analysts have had little time to focus on potential elements of the fiscal 2020 budget.
“Who knows? It depends on what they’re trying to emphasize these days,” said an anti-hunger activist, who noted that Congress traditionally gives USDA programs a pass for a year or more after enacting a farm bill. The legislative pause gives the agency time to implement changes in operations that are mandated by the new law.
In a defeat for the administration and House Republicans, Congress did not touch SNAP benefits in the farm bill. But when he signed the bill into law, Trump announced “immediate action on welfare reform” via regulation that would restrict state use of waivers that allow able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs) to receive food stamps beyond the usual limit of 90 days in three years unless they work at least 20 hours a week or spend equal time in job training. Stricter rules “will help Americans transition from welfare to gainful employment,” said Trump. The regulation has not yet been published, and foes say they will challenge it.
Stricter enforcement of the 90-day rule for ABAWDs is a recurring feature of Trump’s proposals for cutting SNAP. The president signed an executive order last April calling for new and stronger work requirements for federal welfare programs.
Last October, during a lunchtime visit to an elementary school in a Washington suburb, Perdue told reporters hat he hoped the fiscal 2020 budget proposal would include a test or even a full-scale revival of the Harvest Box. “I think it’s a great idea, frankly,” said Perdue, who is credited with the concept. SNAP recipients could supplement the monthly box of food from the government with fresh produce and other groceries, he said. “We think they can have fresh fruits and vegetables and a good value meal cheaper than we are providing it now.”
Lawmakers were not interested a year ago. Critics saw a logistical nightmare in assuring the box’s timely delivery and in taking allergies or dietary restrictions in millions of households into account. “A condescending plan,” said New York Rep. Nita Lowey, now the chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee, which oversees USDA spending.
North Carolina Rep. Alma Adams, named as vice chair of the House Agriculture Committee this week, said in a statement, “Access to food should be a basic right. … We will push back against this administration’s attempts to end SNAP.”