The U.S. Department of Agriculture proposed new rules to limit access to food stamps for households with savings and other assets, a measure that officials said would cut benefits to about 3 million people, The Washington Post reported. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and Acting Deputy Under Secretary Brandon Lipps said that the proposed new rules for the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) were aimed at ending automatic eligibility for those who were already receiving federal and state assistance. “This proposal will save money and preserve the integrity of the program,” Perdue said. “SNAP should be a temporary safety net.” About 40 million low-income people received SNAP benefits in 2018. Forty-three states routinely grant eligibility to low-income people already receiving other government benefits, without undergoing income or asset tests. Lipps said the proposal would result in an annual budgetary savings of $2.5 billion and restrict less needy individuals from qualifying for benefits. USDA officials said that the proposal was aimed at closing a loophole that was famously exploited by a wealthy Minnesota man, Rob Undersander, who claims he received food stamps for 19 months despite owning significant assets such as property and bank accounts. Lipps said that the proposal aimed to make sure that beneficiaries are treated equally across all states, and that recipients’ geographic location should not dictate their benefit level. The USDA officials had no specifics on the financial cutoff for their proposal. Current rules give states latitude to raise SNAP income eligibility limits so that low-income families with housing and child care costs that consume a sizable share of their income can continue to receive help affording adequate food. This option also allows states to adopt less restrictive asset tests so that families, seniors and people with a disability can have modest savings or own their own home without losing SNAP benefits.
