SNAP helps people with low incomes eat healthy foods. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, provides nutritional support to low-income seniors, people with disabilities, and people with disabilities live on fixed incomes and other low-income individuals and families.
Pennsylvania’s waiver of the state’s work requirement for food stamps now lasts through August 31 of the following year. This comes even though House Republican lawmakers have recently urged that the mandate be applied to healthy adults who are not in the care of others. State data shows that nearly 200,000 residents of the more than 2 million enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) fall into this category.
What Are the Work Requirements for Food Stamps in Pennsylvania Typically?
Without an exemption, healthy adults must work at least 20 hours a week or spend the equivalent amount of time in a workforce development program. Until the requirement is met, benefits would be limited to three months in a three-year period. Pennsylvania has taken advantage of the exemption on and off over the past 20 years. In a letter to Department of Human Services Secretary Val Arkoosh, 39 House Republican lawmakers said waiving the work requirement prolongs dependence on the government and worsens the state’s labor shortage.
Pennsylvania Republicans are tired of benefit fraud and abuse, they say. It’s a problem for House Republicans who want to see reforms to reduce fraud in the program. Data taken from OSIG’s Fiscal Year 2017-18 Annual Report shows that the agency saved Pennsylvania more than $75 million in benefits that would have been paid incorrectly. It also projected a cost benefit of about $12 for every $1 spent on research activities.
The Share of Pennsylvanians Receiving SNAP Is Increasing
SNAP expansion has also outpaced population growth. Pennsylvania has only gained 700,000 residents since 2000, while SNAP participation has grown from 760,000 to 2 million, a significant increase of more than 200%.
At a committee hearing in February, the conservative nonprofit Foundation for Government Accountability said weaknesses in the program’s design divert benefits from those who actually occupy them and into the hands of those who live above income limits, including millionaires.
Spending on human services represents 42% of the state budget, although most of it is financed with federal appropriations. Many of these programs go beyond food stamps, supporters say. An analysis by the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan organization, considers healthy adults to be a “complicated” group to care for.
These beneficiaries are more likely to be homeless or living with a mental or physical condition that is not considered a disability, even if that makes working unrealistic. The research also found that income is reduced for residents who only receive benefits for three months, suggesting that time limits do not incentivize employment.
