house Resolution No.213
Reps. Hope, Peterson, Manoogian and Bolden offered the following resolution:
Whereas, The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, provides nutrition benefits to low-income families to supplement their food budgets. In Fiscal Year 2019, the program served nearly 34.5 million people across the nation, including almost 1.2 million Michigan residents; and
Whereas, Under federal law, able-bodied adults without dependents, people between the ages of 18 and 49 who are childless and not disabled, can only receive SNAP benefits for 3 months in a 36-month period unless they meet certain work requirements; and
Whereas, New federal rules issued by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will change SNAP work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents (84 FR 66782). Previously, states could request to waive the time limit in areas with an unemployment rate over 10 percent or areas lacking in sufficient jobs, and states had a limited number of discretionary exemptions that could be rolled over each year. The new rules limit states’ abilities to waive the time limit and apply stricter standards for what qualifies as an area lacking in sufficient jobs. It also puts a cap on the annual carryover of state discretionary exemptions; and
Whereas, The USDA’s Regulatory Impact Analysis estimates that 688,000 SNAP participants will lose their benefits under the new rules. Nearly 80,000 Michigan residents may become ineligible to participate in SNAP; and
Whereas, The people most impacted by the rule change are among the most vulnerable SNAP participants. It is estimated that 97 percent of individuals impacted live in poverty compared to 80 percent of all SNAP participants. Nearly 90 percent of the people impacted have household incomes at or below 50 percent of the federal poverty level, which is equivalent to only $12,875 for a family of four; and
Whereas, The rule change will be detrimental to the low-income families who rely on SNAP to meet their most basic needs and will create additional barriers to self-sufficiency for individuals in areas already lacking sufficient jobs; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives, That we urge the President of the United States and the United States Department of Agriculture to repeal the new work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; and be it further
Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the United States Secretary of Agriculture, and the Deputy Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services.