The Trump administration wants more people to work for food coupons



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The US Department of Agriculture on Thursday unveiled a draft rule to expand the requirements of the Supplementary Nutrition Program, or SNAP, to the extent that the food stamp program is officially known. The proposal comes the same day that President Donald Trump is considering signing an agricultural bill that contained a similar provision that was finally eliminated

. This redesign marks the latest effort by the administration to impose work requirements in government assistance programs. In an unprecedented move, it began allowing states to compel Medicaid beneficiaries to find employment. Senior management officials mention the country's low unemployment rate as a reason for pushing more Americans to self-sufficiency.

"One of the central themes of the Trump administration has been to increase the prosperity of all Americans, including helping people get out of society." Sonny Perdue, secretary at Agriculture, said that this would save $ 15 billion over 10 years.The proposed rule "restores the dignity of work to a sizeable segment of our population while respecting the taxpayers who fund the program. "

The food voucher program already requires non-disabled adults, of working age and of working age, to have jobs, and they can only receive benefits three months out of 36, except if they work or participate in training programs 20 hours a week.

However, states may waive this requirement in areas where unemployment is at least 10% or the number of jobs insufficient, as that defined Already by the Ministry of Labor, some Red States, including Kentucky and West Virginia, are phasing out or eliminating their derogations.

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The proposed rule would further prevent States from receiving such waivers by tightening the definition of areas where jobs are insufficient, limiting the ability of states to "retain" exemptions for future years and limiting waivers to among the other changes only one year instead of two at most.

In 2016, 3.8 million Americans were in the target category, the latest available federal figure. Some 2.8 million of them were not working.

This decision by the agency could result in losses of hundreds of thousands of beneficiaries, according to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, left. As a rule, one-third of Americans live in an area where the work requirement is removed.

The proposed rule would reduce the number of areas benefiting from a three-quarters exemption, according to the agency.

Many Low Income People I can not find a good job with stable hours of work, even in today 's robust economy, said Rachel West, director of the research on poverty at the Center for American Progress, far left. This volatility, combined with the challenge of documenting its hours, will cause many people to lose their benefits.

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"In low-wage jobs, there is a lot of unsubscribing week by week, month by month," said Mr. West. "Many people can not control their hours in the job market today."

The Farm Bill passed by the House called for many recipients of food stamps to be excluded from the program for three years if they do not work or do not work. Do not register. professional training. The legislation would also have expanded the work obligation to people in their 50s and parents with children of school age.

However, the final version did not contain these modifications.

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