Work requirement for food stamps draws flak
Pritzker decries Trump plan to kick 140,000 Illinoisans off SNAP benefits as ‘ugliest possible tactics’
Illinois officials harshly criticized President Trump’s plans to broaden work requirements and kick hundreds of thousands of people off food stamps. (Shutterstock)
By Ted Cox
The Trump administration’s plans to widely broaden work requirements for food stamps drew a swift and withering response from officials across the state.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program formerly known as food stamps, formally announced Thursday that it would follow through on President Trump’s threats to kick hundreds of thousands of people out of the program. Trump proposed broadening the work requirement earlier this year, and the USDA moved Thursday to publish the new rule on the way to enacting it next year, saying it “generally limits the amount of time an able-bodied adult without dependents can receive (SNAP) benefits to three months in a 36-month period, unless the individual meets certain work requirements.”
Basically, the new rule prevents states from allowing local waivers for a work requirement based on their unemployment rates. It sets 6 percent as the threshold for cities and counties to be granted a waiver — far above the current U.S. unemployment rate of 3.6 percent — and even then they would have to go through the process of getting federal approval for the waiver. It’s expected to remove almost 700,000 people from food stamps nationally, 140,000 in Illinois.
Gov. Pritzker said in a statement that in “denying food to the most vulnerable people in our society” Trump was “resorting to the ugliest possible tactics to distract the American people from his impeachment and gin up support from the far right.”
Meghan Powers, spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Human Services, said it would affect “approximately 140,000 low-income individuals in Illinois.” She emphasized, “Many SNAP participants face serious barriers to employment, such as mental illnesses, substance-use disorders, justice involvement, and significant physical limitations, and would not be able to immediately meet the work requirements.”
“This is cruel and my administration has fought him at every turn,” Pritzker added. “We’ve also worked hard to restore Illinois’s social services that were decimated by Gov. Rauner so that our residents have additional resources and protections. As we move forward, we will do everything in our power to protect our residents from the president’s actions and ensure Illinois remains a place where all can thrive.”
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth basically labeled Trump a Scrooge, calling it the “latest installment of cruelty by the Trump administration – and right in the middle of the holiday season.”
U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos of Moline pointed out that 18 percent of households in her district draw on food stamps. “This new rule will make it harder for those families to get the nutrition assistance they need,” he said. “Instead of putting up roadblocks, let’s work to increase food security.”
“This administration’s complete disregard for the health and well-being of American families is appalling,” tweeted U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Schaumburg.
The work requirement was first imposed by the Clinton administration in the mid-’90s as a concession to congressional Republicans. It limited “able-bodied adults without dependents” to three months of SNAP benefits over a three-year period unless they work 20 hours a week or are enrolled in a job program. But it also allowed waivers in areas of high unemployment or where there aren’t sufficient jobs. The Trump proposal tries to drastically narrow those waivers.
Trump has persistently tried to make cuts to the food-stamp program. Earlier this year his administration proposed closing a “loophole” that streamlined enrollment for SNAP benefits.
Powers said the Department of Human Services was working proactively to smooth the transition to the new rule and cover as many food-stamp recipients as possible. “IDHS has been working for months to appropriately exempt any individuals with these barriers so they do not need to meet the work requirements,” she said. “However, we also recognize that some of our customers can and want to work. To that end, IDHS has also engaged in a robust effort to prepare for this rule change so we can help as many SNAP participants as possible find employment and training that would meet the work requirement.”