Boston This is D-Day for the US food stamp program, technically named SNAP for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. New work rules are coming into effect, coupled with the government shutdown, to equal a perfect tsunami for lower-income, working families.
The Trump administration, to put more pressure on the Democrats to settle on the shutdown, threatened to withhold food stamp payments, despite having emergency funds dedicated to maintaining these benefits. Two federal judges, one in Massachusetts and the other in Rhode Island, ruled this week that, like it or not, the administration needed to cover the shortfalls in November with these dedicated funds and find others elsewhere in the federal budget to do so, regardless of the shutdown.
Trump’s response has been to say that essentially, the government is looking into how they can do that, but it won’t be until Monday until the administration will have an answer. Meanwhile, reports indicate that even as the parties had been making progress towards a shutdown settlement, Trump has also thrown a wrench in that process by demanding that the Senate get rid of the 60-vote filibuster requirement in order to bulldoze the Democrats on the Medicaid issue.
The court action and even the potential compliance of the administration to the courts’ orders doesn’t solve the problem for recipients. November 1st will still trigger the new requirements that force existing recipients to satisfy the work, volunteer or educational requirement of 80 hours per month if they fall into formerly exempt categories now forced to comply under Trump’s budget act. This means that seniors between 55 and 65, now have to meet the requirements, as do the heads of families with children the household younger than 14, and many who are disabled. None are necessarily clear about how to do this, nor are states necessarily prepared to handle the new requirements or assist eligible recipients in processing their recertifications.
Some states and cities are also stepping into the gap without waiting for the courts or Trump, but that doesn’t offset the November 1st requirement for work and recertification. Many will lose their benefits and even when reapplying will have to do without food assistance during a waiting period. Having people lose their benefits, despite being eligible for an entitlement, is the point for the Republican majority in Congress and the Trump administration. It is how they are paying for continuing tax relief for the rich.
In Boston today, I visited a local library in Jamaica Plains. There were three or four computers there. You needed a library card. If you had to print, it would cost you. The computers just sit there. No one is around to walk you through the maze. Doing all this on a mobile phone, if you have one, where the bill is paid and current adds another degree of difficulty to this process.
There are some ideas about how to pushback. We have some as well. Without something happening soon, tragedy is at the door for lower income families in America.