A proposal in Kentucky could lead to thousands of SNAP recipients losing their benefits and lead to an increase in poverty and hunger, policy experts have said.
In February, lawmakers in the southern state's House of Representatives voted to approve House Bill 367 which would implement a financial asset test and make income requirements stricter for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) applicants.
HB 367 would reinstate maximum asset limits of $2,750 for SNAP applicants, according to a report by the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy. The limit is $4,250 for seniors and people with disabilities.
"This approach is known as Broad Based Categorical Eligibility (BBCE), which is the standard option that Kentucky has long implemented alongside 42 other states and the District of Columbia," Dustin Pugel, policy director at the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, wrote in an analysis on the center's website. "Nearly all households in Kentucky use BBCE as a part of their application process and eliminating it would affect all of them, regardless of age or who lives in the household."
The limit for gross income—meaning any money earned before applying taxes and other deductions—would also be dropped from 200 percent of the federal poverty level to 130 percent, according to the bill's text.
The Kentucky Center for Economic Policy has said that if the bill eventually becomes law, it could mean thousands will lose their food stamp benefits. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of June 2022, 547,582 people in Kentucky claimed SNAP benefits.
"Together, these two policies would lead to tens of thousands of Kentuckians losing food assistance, either because they no longer meet the modest income threshold, their assets rise above the new, low threshold, or they get caught up in difficult paperwork requirements," Pugel said. "HB 376 would worsen hunger and poverty in the commonwealth and hurt local economies when they need the help the most."
He estimates that roughly 25,400 households will lose access to SNAP benefits if the changes are implemented.
Melissa McDonald, executive director of Feeding Kentucky, has said it could put more strain on food banks in Kentucky. "If HB 367 were to be approved by the Kentucky General Assembly, it would put further strain on our food banks—which are already in a critical situation due to low funding and lack of donations," she said in an article for the Courier Journal.
Advocates for the bill have said the measures will ensure that staying on SNAP benefits is not "too lucrative" and will stop people from declining to return to the workforce.
Republican state Representative Wade Williams, the bill's sponsor, said the aim of the proposed legislation is to "make sure that everyone that's on SNAP should be on SNAP," according to a report by Kentucky broadcaster WEKU. Newsweek has contacted Williams for comment via email outside of normal working hours.
HB 367 still needs the approval of Kentucky's Senate to become law. Republicans have a sizable majority in both the state House and Senate. Kentucky's Democratic governor, Andy Beshear, could issue a veto if the bill passes the Senate in its current form, but an override in Kentucky is a simple constitutional majority of 50 percent plus one vote in each chamber.
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