WASHINGTON – Food-stamp enrollment in the U.S. is declining from record levels, in part because some states are ending benefits earlier than they have to.
Seven states, all led by Republicans, have decided this year to end waivers for some able-bodied recipients that were made available in the 2009 federal stimulus bill — even though the benefits are federally funded.
Enrollment in what's formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is still nearly twice the level it was before the recession. But the most recent data, for May, showed that 43.5 million people were receiving food stamps, down 9 percent from a 2012 peak and the fewest since 2010. Much of the drop comes from an improving economy, but efforts to reduce enrollments among able-bodied adults are also accelerating the decline.
Under federal law, food stamp benefits are cut off after three months for adults younger than 50 who don't have dependents unless they find work or engage in a volunteer or job-training activity. The stimulus bill permitted states to waive that provision in areas with high unemployment.
Many states did, and the waivers pushed the percentage of so-called "ABAWDs" — for "Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents" — to 10.3 percent of all food-stamp recipients in 2014 from 6.7 percent in 2007, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Ending them could push as many as a million people off aid nationwide, said the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.
High enrollments rankle Republicans, including presidential nominee Donald Trump, who cited that "43 million Americans are on food stamps" as a sign of economic failure in his acceptance address at the Republican National Convention last month. Democrats pledged to protect aid at their convention.
In the seven states — Arkansas, Florida, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and New Jersey — aid is ending sooner than the government requires. They join eight other states that had discontinued waivers because of economic conditions or state action: Delaware, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Oklahoma, Indiana, Wisconsin and Texas. Other states are ending waivers only for certain regions.
In Wisconsin, reviving work requirements "is part of Governor Walker's effort to move people from government dependence to true independence," said Tom Evenson, a spokesman for Gov. Scott Walker, in an e-mail.
People struggling to find jobs have job-training programs to turn to that allow them to continue benefits, and that "has helped thousands of able-bodied adults gain employment," he said.
Food stamp participation and spending both more than doubled from 2007 to 2012, as double-digit unemployment and increased federal efforts to get eligible recipients in the program boosted rolls. The program cost a record $76.1 billion in 2013.
