Michigan Snap Violations Attorney
Almost 150,000 Michigan residents would lose food assistance and free school lunches if a proposed federal rule comes to fruition, state officials warn.
Families, senior citizens and people with disabilities are most likely to get hit by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s proposed changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson Bob Wheaton said.
“We’re very concerned about it,” he said.
USDA officials have proposed strengthening the eligibility requirements for the SNAP, which would effectively limit the number of Americans who get help paying for groceries.
Families who get any kind of cash or non-cash assistance are automatically eligible for SNAP benefits under the current rule.
The USDA’s proposal would limit food assistance to families getting only “substantial, ongoing” assistance from other programs of at least $50 a month for at least six months, and reduce the number of programs that would qualify someone to automatically be enrolled in SNAP.
That means some people will no longer be eligible for food stamps, and others will have to file additional paperwork to get them, Wheaton said.
“These are people who, in other areas, have demonstrated a need for assistance and it’s extended to food assistance,” he said. “It gives us an opportunity to help more people put food on the table and cut through some of the bureaucratic red tape that can be time-consuming not only for our workers but for people who are applying for assistance.”
Those families may have to turn to community food banks instead.
The USDA said their plan would save taxpayers billions. They described it as “closing a loophole” that lets families that aren’t eligible for food assistance enroll in the program. Department officials argued states allowed families to sign up for food assistance without checking their eligibility.
Michigan Snap Violations Attorney
To learn more, visit our SNAP Violation Attorney website.
