Last Friday, following months of negotiations, President Obama signed into law The Agricultural Act of 2014 (also known as the Farm Bill). This five-year legislation enacts policies and authorizes agriculture, trade, marketing, and other programs as well as rural development assistance. It also establishes funding levels and eligibility criteria for SNAP – the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps). Though the final bill omitted the $40 billion in SNAP cuts proposed by the House, it will still hurt many low-income families. The new version cuts $8.6 billion from the program over the next decade—on top of the $5 billion slashed last November, which means more than 664,000 Mississippians and 597,000 Arkansans will see further cuts to their food assistance in 2014 (see chart below for specific household numbers).
| SNAP Cut by Household Size Beginning November 2013 | ||||
|
|
Maximum Benefits Through Oct. 2013 |
Maximum Benefits Beginning Nov. 2013 |
Monthly Cut |
Total Cut FY 2014 |
|
Household of 1 |
$200 |
$189 |
-$11 |
-$121 |
|
Household of 2 |
$367 |
$347 |
-$20 |
-$220 |
|
Household of 3 |
$526 |
$497 |
-$29 |
-$319 |
|
Household of 4 |
$668 |
$632 |
-$36 |
-$396 |
| Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities – U.S. Department of Agriculture, “SNAP – Fiscal Year 2014 Cost-of-Living Adjustments and ARRA Sunset Impact on Allotments,” August 1, 2013. | ||||
Over $8 billion less in food for needy families is hardly something to celebrate, especially since unemployment is still high and SNAP has proven to be a highly successful anti-poverty program; however, there is a bright side. The Farm Bill maintains a state’s right to “broad-based categorical eligibility” (BBCE), which means states are permitted to raise or remove asset limits on SNAP. A previous version of the bill (H.Res. 361), which was introduced last fall, contained a provision to make additional SNAP cuts by eradicating BBCE. That would have instituted a federal asset limit of $2,000 on SNAP, thus inhibiting a family’s ability to receive SNAP even if they qualified for other low-income government assistance programs. That version would have also reversed 18 years of state-level progress on reforming asset limits, limiting many families’ economic mobility by forcing them to spend down long-term savings to receive short-term assistance.
This means that it’s now up to the states to take advantage of the BBCE benefits for low-income families and program administration. In 2013, Southern worked with Arkansas lawmakers to pass SB 911, now Act 535, which requires the Department of Human Services to conduct a study on asset limits for the SNAP and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). This was a positive step, but we must take a step further in eliminating asset limits entirely.
To read more of our past blog posts on the Farm Bill, check them out here.