WASHINGTON — House Republicans are pushing tougher work requirements for food stamp recipients, a move they say is intended to nudge more of America’s poorest off government assistance and into jobs.

But Democrats and food security advocates say the measure is overly punitive and will cause many Americans to go hungry. The House GOP proposal could derail the 2018 farm bill and faces opposition in the Senate.

At issue are work requirements under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which provides food assistance to more than 40 million Americans, including about 3.8 million Texans. SNAP and smaller nutrition programs account for nearly 80 percent of the funding in the five-year farm bill, which is up for reauthorization this year.

The program already requires able-bodied adults without dependents ages 18 to 49 to work or be in education or job training at least 20 hours a week to qualify for SNAP benefits beyond three months in a three-year period.

The Republican-led proposal, approved by the committee on April 18, would raise the age to 59, and include parents of children older than 6. It would also eventually increase the weekly requirement from 20 to 25 hours.

To help the larger population of people find work, Republicans would also dramatically boost funds to states for employment and training programs.

Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway, R-Midland, and other House Republicans say the changes are reasonable and overdue. He noted that roughly two-thirds of SNAP recipients won’t be affected by the work requirements, including pregnant women, seniors, children and the disabled.

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway, R-Texas, and other Republican members of the panel announces the new farm bill, officially known as the 2018 Agriculture and Nutrition Act, at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, April 12, 2018. From left are Rep. David Rouzer R-N.C., Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., Rep. Scott DesJarlais, R-Tenn., Vice Chairman Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., Chairman Mike Conaway, R-Texas, and Rep. John Faso, R-N.Y. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) (J. Scott Applewhite / AP)

The changes are targeted at able-bodied adults “who should be doing more to help themselves [while] addressing why they’re not able to make that happen on their own,” he said Tuesday during an appearance at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.

“Long-term dependence on public programs of any kind is not a part of the ‘American Dream’ that I’m familiar with,” Conaway added.

But opponents of the move say the changes reflect a misunderstanding of the reality for many SNAP recipients, who struggle to find a job quickly, or with reliable hours. Some already hold low-paying jobs but don’t meet the 20-hour threshold consistently. They're also worried it will be particularly tough for 50-somethings, for whom it typically takes longer to find work.

“It assumes that if people aren’t working, it’s because they don’t want to, and nothing can be further from the truth,” said Celia Cole, CEO of Feeding Texas, a nonprofit with a network of food banks across the state.

Stiff penalties

In Texas, the increased work requirements may not be felt as acutely, as the state already has mandatory work or training standards for people between 16 and 59 years old.

But some advocates for low-income Texans are worried about rules that require SNAP recipients to prove they're meeting work or job training requirements each month or lose benefits for an entire year, unless they're able to justify why they couldn't comply. After multiple violations, they could lose assistance for three years. In Texas, the average monthly SNAP benefit per participant was $117 in fiscal 2016, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

While Conaway has said those penalties will help people take the programs seriously, Rachel Cooper, a senior policy analyst with the Center for Public Policy Priorities in Austin, isn’t confident that the states and recipients can keep up with the added paperwork.

“We’re calling it ‘one strike and you starve,’” Cooper said. “Most of these people you’re talking about are parents. Their children might still stay on SNAP, but as soon as you cut a parent off, less food is coming into the household.”

Robert Doar, a resident fellow with the American Enterprise Institute and a former commissioner of social services for New York state, pushed back against that narrative.

“It’s bureaucratic,” he said. “But it is part of the process of saying that, if you can work, it would be better if you do work, because you have a much better chance of getting out of poverty.”

A spokeswoman for the House Agriculture Committee's Republicans said the bill would eliminate a state’s ability to sanction an entire family for a parent’s noncompliance, and makes changes to asset testing so that families can accrue small savings without that counting against them.

Conaway isn’t just fielding criticism from the left. Some conservatives say the bill doesn’t go far enough in addressing waivers states can use to exempt groups of people from the work requirements, as well as rules that deter SNAP recipients from getting married because they would risk losing assistance.

The American Enterprise Institute estimates that fewer than 10 million of the 40 million on SNAP would be subject to work requirements under the bill, though some conservatives say the number that would actually be required to work is closer to 2 million, due to exemptions.

“Some conservatives think the bill could go further. Other conservatives are very happy,” Doar said.

Boosting federal funds

An estimated 770,000 Texans are required to participate in the SNAP employment and training program, according to the Texas Workforce Commission. Conaway's team estimates that, nationally, as many as 2.5 million job training slots will be needed annually under the GOP proposal.

To meet that increase, the House GOP proposal would dramatically bolster the employment and training funds from $90 million to $1 billion, in part by reinvesting funds from food stamps to training once people leave the program.

Stacy Dean, vice president for food assistance policy at the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said that’s not enough money for states to adequately implement workforce training for the larger population of SNAP recipients who would be subject to new requirements. She argued the money would be better used to provide specialized training to a smaller group of people for jobs available in their area.

“Is the goal job training to give people better opportunities and to address a skills gap and help folks get out of poverty, or is the goal to make it very hard for people to participate in SNAP?” she said.

According to the House Agriculture Committee, Texas could see up to $93 million in employment and training funds in 2021, an increase from $18.1 million in fiscal 2016.

“The idea isn’t to kick people off the program,” said spokeswoman Rachel Millard. “That’s why we’re making employment and training available to anyone.”

A recent analysis by the Congressional Budget Office cast doubt on whether states would be able to offer training to all eligible recipients by 2021, when the requirements would take effect, and indicated the process could take more than a decade.

It also estimated that as many as 1.2 million fewer Americans would receive the food assistance monthly by 2028 under the work requirements, though it’s unclear whether the change is due to SNAP recipients being disqualified or finding jobs and no longer needing the assistance.

Rep. Richard Nolan, D-Minn., argues in opposition as members of the House Agriculture Committee assemble to craft a new farm bill which includes an overhaul of the food stamp program, officially known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, April 18, 2018. Republicans are proposing stricter work mandates on the nation's more than 40 million food stamp recipients. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) (J. Scott Applewhite / AP)

Path forward

The conflict has injected bitter divisions into the historically bipartisan farm bill reauthorization.

With Democrats expected to uniformly oppose the measure, House Republicans are left searching for support ahead of a vote anticipated as soon as next week. They could face trouble from some conservative lawmakers opposed to subsidies granted to farmers in the sweeping bill.

Brownsville Rep. Filemon Vela, a Democrat on the Agriculture Committee, said Democrats are “perplexed” by the “drastic changes” that took them by surprise. “For the last four years ... nobody has even come into our office and suggested we need to make these changes,” he said.

But Lubbock Rep. Jodey Arrington, a Republican on the committee, said he’s gobsmacked that Democrats can oppose a change that would help more people have the “blessing and dignity of work.”

Conaway’s bill faces resistance in the Senate, where Republicans need Democrats’ support to pass the measure. Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., has said he isn’t planning significant changes to SNAP in his version of the farm bill.

Conaway said he expects both chambers will reach a compromise. “I am not naive or arrogant enough to believe that the bill I got out of committee the other day is what the president will sign,” he said.