Overall food stamp participation had consistently declined since 2013, when the Obama administration was in power and enrollment in the program reached its highest levels in American history.
USDA data revealed that 37,911,631 people received food stamps through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in December 2018, marking the lowest level of overall participation in the nation’s food stamp program in nearly ten years.
This number is set to be lowered even more.
According to a recent report by Bloomberg, the Trump administration is moving to end food stamp benefits for 3 million people with proposed new regulations curtailing the leeway of states to automatically enroll residents who receive welfare benefits.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said state governments “have misused this flexibility.”
“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,” he added.
The Trump administration rule would rein in states’ ability to enroll recipients earning more than 130% of the federal poverty guidelines — in most cases capping eligibility to an annual income of $32,640 for a family of four.
Forty states and the District of Columbia currently use alternative eligibility criteria that allow participants in some federally funded welfare programs to automatically receive food stamps as long as their income is less than double the poverty level.
Brandon Lipps, an acting deputy undersecretary in the Agriculture Department, told reporters in a conference call previewing the regulatory changes that in some cases states enroll residents for food stamps even though they are receiving federal welfare benefits of minimal value — including brochures.
The proposed regulations, to be released Tuesday, would only allow automatic enrollment of people who receive welfare benefits worth at least $50 a month on an ongoing basis for at least six months. Other than cash, the only welfare benefits that would qualify are subsidized employment, work supports such as transportation, and child care, Lipps said.
The proposed restrictions would eliminate food stamps for 3 million people at an average annual savings of $2.5 billion, Lipps said. A final regulation will be issued after a 60-day public comment period.
Liberals love welfare programs to control the voting populace. Free stuff gets the vote so that works for them. The problem is, nothing is for free and somebody else is paying for them. But, luckily the end is near!
