Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD) introduced the America Works Act, a bill he argues would reform work requirements for able-bodied Americans receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. Current federal law requires Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWDs) younger than 49 years old on SNAP to participate in work, training, or education for 20 hours a week. 

For:

Currently, dozens of states utilize statewide or partial waivers to exempt individuals from work requirements. Unfortunately, many states, it is argued, abuse these waivers and ignore work requirements for ABAWDs. Johnson’s bill would close the loophole by disallowing those waivers. According to data prior to the pandemic, 1.36 million ABAWD households reported zero dollars in gross income – meaning they did not work at all.

“Work is the best pathway out of poverty,” said Johnson. “Work requirements have proven to be effective, and people who can work should work. With more than 11 million open jobs, there are plenty of opportunities for SNAP recipients to escape poverty and build a better life.”

The America Works Act:

• Emphasizes and amends work requirements for Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWDs), requiring childless adults, unless exempted, to work or participate in work-related training or education, for at least 20 hours per week in order to receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
• This bill maintains current law, which states that ABAWDs are subject to a three-month limit of SNAP benefits unless they work 80 hours per month.
• Raises the age limits of an ABAWD from 18 to 49 to 18 to 65, consistent with the age individuals become eligible for Medicare.
• Employment projections from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics show that individuals over the age of 55 are projected to assume over 25% of the workforce in 2022.
• The America Works Act of 2023 eliminates states’ ability to carry over exemption waivers from year to year, reducing instances of stockpiling and hampering abuses of the law.
• States are currently allowed robust flexibility in managing their SNAP population, with 12% of state caseloads eligible for exemptions from the work requirements. Johnson’s bill maintains that flexibility, but doesn’t allow states to carry over exemptions year after year.

House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member David Scott: "Putting SNAP benefits at risk for millions of America’s children, veterans, and seniors is both un-American and ungodly. Republican attempts to punish low-income families to pay for tax cuts they pushed through under President Trump will not result in self-sufficiency; it will only drastically increase hunger for our American people. The radical work requirements Republicans are attempting to insert into the program, on top of our already existing, stringent work requirements, will not spur economic growth. The American people must know that we already have stringent work requirements for Americans that can work. By including these radical proposals as a lever in debt limit negotiations, Speaker McCarthy and his extreme Republican colleagues are ensuring their failure."

Should Congress require work requirements for able-bodied Americans receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits?