The Trump administration is weighing three changes to SNAP food aid that will cut millions off benefits. They're taking a page out of the Clinton playbook: bit.ly/2Ri1jMW
The first rule, which is now final, affects how and where states can ask for waivers to the time limit for food stamps for unemployed people (three months in any three-year window).
Until now states had a lot of say in granting their residents more time and aid if they needed it. The new formula under Trump limits where people can receive a waiver and under what circumstances. Both of these conditions are now extremely tight. bit.ly/2Ri1jMW
Another rule up for revision: Currently, people who are eligible for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families are categorically eligible for SNAP food benefits. If this rule is changed, the very neediest families would have to meet work requirements and admin burdens for food aid.
The third rule up for revision: Utility costs are weighed in the formula for SNAP food benefits, and states determine what those costs are. The new rule would set a single formula, which would punish northern states (hello winter heating costs) and reward southern states.
As @brentinmock explains, residents of low-income minority neighborhoods pay more for utilities than those of comparably poor white neighborhoods. (Disparities in everything.) The formula for SNAP should be made more particular, not more general. bit.ly/2RymAT1
@brentinmock The Trump administration came in with big ideas for cutting food aid: Blue Apron–style "Harvest Boxes" and a doomed "Department of Welfare."
But with these sophisticated rules, they're sharpening the knives that the Clinton administration left for them. bit.ly/2Ri1jMW
But with these sophisticated rules, they're sharpening the knives that the Clinton administration left for them. bit.ly/2Ri1jMW
