More changes may be coming for people who receive benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is proposing tightening SNAP eligibility requirements.
The USDA is proposing to stop automatic eligibility for food stamps for households receiving cash aid under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.
Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen (DESK) in New Haven said the restrictions will only further strain community-based organizations like themselves.
“Organizations like DESK really started as emergency food assistance; this is assistance people could access in a pinch,” said DESK Executive Director Steve Werlin. “But now, we don’t even call it emergency food assistance. We call it food assistance because it’s become ingrained in people’s minds that they need to come to the pantry every week in order to make ends meet throughout the year.”
The new proposal would end what’s known as “broad-based categorical eligibility,” which allowed people to receive both benefits from the temporary assistance program and SNAP benefits without needing to show they met the federal income threshold.
In a statement, a USDA spokesperson said:
“Broad-based categorical eligibility has bloated the welfare rolls for decades. It has allowed States to take shortcuts, error rates to balloon, and those with income and assets far above federal limits access to a benefit meant for the neediest among us. Correcting this loophole is long overdue.”
If the proposal is approved, the USDA estimates 6.3 million people could be impacted.
“If the percentage that the USDA is projecting across the country of 17.6% holds in Connecticut, then we’re going to see at least 50,000 Connecticut residents lose eligibility for SNAP as well,” Werlin said.
The public comment period is open until midnight, Dec. 10.
Head here to submit public comment.
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