On July 23rd, President Donald Trump announced a potential new set of guidelines that would affect eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
Under current guidelines, 43 states allow any individual qualifying for certain government assistance programs, such as the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, to automatically qualify for SNAP benefits. If Trump’s policy went into effect, families and individuals interested in SNAP assistance would be required to apply separately for the program, and prove they were receiving “substantial, ongoing assistance from TANF.”
It is estimated that this new proposal would eliminate SNAP benefits for 3.1 million people, roughly 8% of the population currently receiving the service.
Agricultural Secretary Sonny Perdue said that the proposed changes were necessary to “preserve the integrity of the program” from misuse.
“We are changing the rules, preventing abuse of a critical safety net system, so those who need food assistance the most are the only ones who receive it,” Perdue said.
There have been concerns about the overpayment of SNAP benefits to those who do not need the program, and it has been reported that rates of both overpayments and underpayments of SNAP benefits are roughly 6.3%. However, the most common cause of SNAP mispayment is caseworker error, not fraud.
Additionally, critics of the new proposal have issued concerns that more strict enforcement of SNAP guidelines would prevent those who make too much money to qualify for SNAP assistance from receiving needed food assistance.
Many states allow individuals whose income is more than 130% of the federal poverty level, which is roughly $16,000 for a single person, to be eligible for benefits. According to NPR, some states allow participants to receive SNAP benefits even if their income is 200% of the poverty level, as long as their incomes are cut below a certain level by other expenses, such as childcare. However, those individuals would no longer be eligible under the new proposal, according to Diane Schanzenbach of the Brookings Institution.
“There are working families who are just above SNAP’s income cutoff,” Stacy Dean of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities told NPR. “What the [current system] does is say to workers that if you want to work a few more hours, you don’t risk losing SNAP because you take the extra shift.”
The new rule is currently open to a 60-day commenting period in which the public can express their thoughts on the proposal. At the end of the commentary period, a final ruling will be issued.