Around 15% of Massachusetts residents rely on SNAP benefits – part of the debt ceiling bill could make thousands of them ineligible.
Thousands of people in Massachusetts could be at risk of losing their nutrition assistance under a provision in the debt limit deal.
A provision in the agreement would raise the ages of participants who need to provide proof of work for the supplemental nutrition assistance program from 18 to 49 to ages 18 to 54.
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“This population that is being evaluated right now and sort of used to meet a compromise in the bill is a population that we see a lot in our seasonal, tourism industry. Individuals who maybe aged out of the traditional work force, are doing gig jobs, working maybe inconsistently job to job to job, construction, seasonal jobs on the Cape or in the Berkshires,” said Erin McAleer, CEO of Project Bread, a non-profit that provides food assistance for families in Massachusetts. “These are individuals who, it’s a lot of work and time consuming to verify work.”
According to the Center on Budget and Policy, 1,024,400 Massachusetts residents were helped by SNAP benefits last year. That’s 15% of people in the state, or one in seven.
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“The past few weeks have perpetuated some very false narratives about who is hungry in this country and also some very false stereotypes about the SNAP program itself and we worry that’s going to create more barriers and red tape for people who are hungry and need food assistance,” said McAleer.
Vicky Negus is the benefits policy advocate for the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute. She says the work requirements don’t work.
“We have decades of evidence that show they are a failed public policy, they do not help people connect to good and consistent work, they do not address any of the systemic barriers to good and consistent well-paid work that folks face when they are either working already looking for work,” said Negus.
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People with dependents and those with documented disabilities would continue to be exempt from work requirements. The new proposal also would exempt veterans, unhoused people and youth aging out of foster care.
“As a country we have set up an economy that relies on gig work, it relies on low wage work, it relies on circumstances where folks don’t have control over their hours or how often they get scheduled. And as long as we fail to recognize that we are placing expectations on people and then taking food off their table when they don’t meet those punitive expectations as a result of the system that we have set up, it’s going to be really difficult for us to policy make in a way that is realistic and represents the reality of the world for many low-income folks across the country,” Negus said.
At the Copley Farmer’s Market, the market manager said the table where SNAP recipients are given tokens to use their benefits is set up in a tent that blends in with the other vendors to encourage participants to use them to buy fresh produce and groceries without fear of stigma.
Becky Stillman is one of the vendors offering meat products from Stillman Farm that can be purchased with SNAP.
“Food insecurity has skyrocketed and we all know the cost of the grocery store is just unbelievable and so to take a group that’s tough to find employment then eliminate what their benefits are, and say go out and do something to fill this gap that we have now created for them it’s really tough,” said Stillman.
According to a letter from the Congressional Budget Office, the work requirement would be expanded first in fiscal year 2024 to adults ages 50 to 52 and then in fiscal year 2025 and later to adults up to age 54. The changes would terminate on October 1, 2030.
CBO estimates expanding the work requirement would reduce spending for SNAP by $6.5 billion over the 2023–2033 period and the exclusion of several groups would lead to a spending increase of $6.8 billion over the same period.
CBO also estimates with the new exclusions in effect, approximately 78,000 people would gain benefits in an average month.
