Nebraska State Sen. Bob Andersen pushes to limit who can receive public assistance
LINCOLN — Lincoln resident Andrea Evans said public assistance programs were never easy to navigate, but she was able to build a better life for herself and her family.
'People sometimes hear pieces of my life story and assume that I just want to stay on assistance forever,' Evans said. 'But that's not true. I want financial self-sufficiency.'
Evans testified against a bill Thursday seeking to reduce how long someone could receive cash assistance under the Welfare Reform Act.
State Sen. Bob Andersen of Papillion introduced Legislative Bill 656, which would adjust who is eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, a state and federal government program that provides monthly funds to help people buy groceries at stores.
The bill's significant change would no longer let the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services accept or renew federal waivers making exceptions to work requirements for SNAP, such as living in areas with high unemployment rates or studying in school or training programs.
Andersen said he aims to send a 'clear message' that Nebraska wants to turn Nebraska's 'welfare system into a workforce system and help more Nebraskans regain their independence.'
Andersen also filed LB 379, which would change the maximum length of time someone can receive cash assistance under the public assistance program.
'This bill simply recognizes it does not take five years to learn a skill and get a job,' Andersen said.
Several people who testified against the bills said both would only make it harder for low-income Nebraskans to be financially stable. Some argued lawmakers should focus on expanding social programs, not reducing them. Supporters of the bills pointed to states with similar regulations governing welfare programs there.
'Right now, too many individuals remain on cash welfare for too long, creating a cycle of dependency instead of a bridge to self-sufficiency,' said Clay Rhodes, a State Affairs Director for the Foundation for Government Accountability, a Florida-based conservative public policy think tank.
As of August 2024, 2,965 families in Nebraska were receiving cash assistance, according to a report from the state Legislative Fiscal Office. The bill would require 'all able-bodied dependents between [ages] 18 and 59 to participate in an employment and training program.'
However, LB 656 makes exceptions for 'caregivers of a dependent child or incapacitated individual,' students enrolled at least half-time and individuals ages 16 to 18 who are not heads of households or attending school or training programs half-time.
The state's current SNAP requirements are that any household's gross total monthly income be at or below 165% of the federal poverty level, which fluctuates depending on the number of people in one household, and net monthly income must be at or below 100% of the poverty level. The bills won't change the requirements but will limit how long someone can be on the program.
According to LB 379's fiscal note, the new limit on cash assistance would save Nebraska roughly $1 million in state funds. The Legislature is currently facing a projected $432 million budget shortfall.
The freshman lawmaker said he would be open to amending his bill so that the proposed new guidelines wouldn't affect people already in the program. Andersen is a newly elected lawmaker in suburban Sarpy County's Legislative District 49, after defeating former Democratic lawmaker Jen Day last year. Anderson was one of the two Republicans who flipped Democratic seats and helped the GOP maintain a supermajority in the officially nonpartisan Legislature.
His approach to public assistance differs from Day, the previous District 49 senator, who pursued bills aiming to expand social programs, including a summer feeding program eventually embraced by Gov. Jim Pillen.
The Health and Human Services Committee took no immediate action on either bill.
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
26 minutes ago
- New York Post
New York state's headed deep into the red — but Albany will ‘rely' on denial
State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli just sounded a blaring alarm about the state's cash shortfall — but the rest of the state's leadership wants the fiscal crisis kept quiet. They all knew trouble was coming, but the Legislature left Albany for the year having given Gov. Kathy Hochul the power to cut as needed. That keeps the cutting out of the headlines, and (lawmakers hope) hangs any blame on the gov. She's asked state agencies to find $750 million in savings in the current-year budget. But next year, the nut jumps to $3 billion. Longer-term, per DiNapoli, the picture grows even more distressing: Albany is facing its worst cash shortfall, as a share of spending, since the Great Recession — with $34.3 billion in red ink through 2029. New York's 'softening economy' and preprogrammed 'spending growth' already guarantee a growing gap, he warns, and future 'drastic reductions in federal aid' may make the shortfall even worse than the comptroller now projects. So he urges 'policymakers' to 'put the fiscal health of the State on a more sustainable, structurally balanced path.' If only. For years, Hochul & Co. have OK'd billions in future spending, with nary a care about available cash: As DiNapoli reports, state-funded disbursements through 2029 are on course to soar 13.9% over current levels, while revenue ticks up just 4.6%. Nor will it be possible to jack up taxes to plug the hole, not without fueling a mad rush by high-earners and job-creators out of state: Hochul (and Gov. Andrew Cuomo before her) already goosed taxes to the hilt, making New York's tax burden the nation's highest. That's why the gov is on record opposing tax hikes — though that hasn't always stopped her from giving way to the Legislature's demands for 'revenue enhancements.' Get opinions and commentary from our columnists Subscribe to our daily Post Opinion newsletter! Thanks for signing up! Enter your email address Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Never miss a story. Check out more newsletters These gaps are no real surprise: Hochul, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins all knew months ago what was in store, as billions in federal pandemic-relief funds were set to run out and the Trump team made no secret of its intent to rein in aid to states. Their response: Who cares? We'll worry about it later. Bet on the denialism to keep on dominating Albany: Hochul is running for re-election next year, with strong incentive to depend on gimmickry to paper over the state's deficit until after November — and so make the longer-term problem even worse. This warning may be the loudest DiNapoli offers for the next 16 months, as his fellow Democrats push him to collude with Hochul in denying that New York is staring at its worst budget crisis in years.
8 hours ago
DeSantis picks state Sen. Jay Collins to be Florida's lieutenant governor
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis tapped Republican state Sen. Jay Collins to be his next lieutenant governor Tuesday. It's a closely watched appointment by the two-term governor, who can't run for reelection in 2026 and has been working to cement his legacy as his time leading the state winds down. If Collins, an Army combat veteran and nonprofit executive, decides to launch a bid to succeed DeSantis, the move could tee up another proxy fight between the popular GOP governor and President Donald Trump, who has already endorsed U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds for the job. During a news conference announcing his pick, DeSantis praised Collins for having strong conservative principles. 'What I was looking for is someone that can be lieutenant governor that will help us deliver more wins for the people of Florida — and then also that is capable of serving and leading as governor, if that need were ever to arise,' the governor said during the news conference in Tampa, which Collins represents. Collins was then sworn in minutes after the announcement. The seat had been vacant since February, when then-lieutenant governor Jeanette Nuñez was appointed to lead one of the state's public universities. In Florida, the lieutenant governor position is largely ceremonial with few official responsibilities, apart from taking over if the governor cannot serve. Collins was first elected to Florida's Republican-dominated state Senate in 2022 and has been seen as one of DeSantis' key allies in the Legislature. In recent months, GOP legislators loyal to the president have increasingly sparred with the governor, who challenged Trump for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. Born in Montana, Collins has talked openly about personal challenges he has overcome, including experiencing homelessness while in high school. He went on to join the Army Special Forces and ultimately lost a leg, but continued to serve five more years as a Green Beret post-amputation, according to a campaign biography. The appointment is seen as a way for DeSantis to elevate a potential successor in 2026, though the governor has repeatedly talked up his wife, Casey DeSantis, for the job, while taking shots at Trump's pick.
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
New work rules could deny food stamps to thousands of veterans
Darryl Chavis, 62, served in the U.S. Army for two years as a watercraft operator. He stands outside the Borden Avenue Veterans Residence, a short-term housing facility in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens, N.Y., where he lives. Chavis relies on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and is worried about new work requirements for the program, commonly known as food stamps. (Shalina Chatlani/Stateline) NEW YORK — After a year in the U.S. Navy, Loceny Kamara said he was discharged in 2023, because while on base he had developed mental health issues, including severe anxiety and nightmares, and had fallen into alcoholism. Kamara, 23, went to rehab and managed to get sober for some time while living with family in the Bronx, he said. But after he lost his job as a security guard in December, Kamara was kicked out of his home. Now he lives at a veterans homeless shelter in Long Island City, a neighborhood in Queens, New York, and he relies on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — commonly known as food stamps — and odd jobs to make ends meet. Each month, nearly 42 million people receive SNAP benefits to help supplement their grocery budgets. Able-bodied SNAP recipients who are between 18 and 54 and don't have children have always been required to work. Veterans, however, have been exempt from those rules — but that's about to change. The giant domestic policy measure that President Donald Trump signed on July 4 eliminates that exemption. Beginning in 2026, veterans will have to prove they are working, volunteering, participating in job training, or looking for work for at least 80 hours a month to keep their food stamps beyond three months, unless they qualify for another exemption, such as having certain disabilities. Republicans in Congress and conservatives who helped formulate the law say these eligibility changes are necessary to stop people who could be working from abusing the system. But critics say the change fails to take into account the barriers many veterans face, and that the new work rules will cause thousands of veterans to go hungry. 'I'm pissed. I mean, I cannot get a job. Nowhere to live,' said Kamara. As he spoke, Kamara pointed to his collared shirt, noting that he had just dressed up to interview for a job as a security guard. He learned that morning he hadn't gotten the job. 'I've been out of work for eight months,' Kamara told Stateline. 'It's hard to get a job right now for everybody.' Veterans depend on SNAP Nationally, around 1.2 million veterans with lower incomes, or about 8% of the total veteran population of 16.2 million, rely on food stamps for themselves and their families, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a left-leaning research group. An analysis by the group found veterans tend to have lower rates of employment because they are more likely to have health conditions, such as traumatic brain injuries, that make it difficult for them to work. They also tend to have less formal education, though many have specialized skills from their time in the military. There has been a work requirement for most SNAP recipients since 1996. But Robert Rector, a senior research fellow at The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, said the rules have 'never really been enforced.' Rector argued that able-bodied people who have been exempt from the work requirement, such as veterans and homeless people, create an unnecessary burden on the system if they are capable of working but don't. 'Most of the people that are in this category live in households with other people that have incomes, and so there really isn't a chronic food shortage here,' Rector said in an interview. 'We have tens of thousands of free food banks that people can go to. So it's just a requirement to nudge these people in the proper direction, and it should no longer go unenforced.' Darryl Chavis, 62, said that view ignores the difficulties that many veterans face. When Chavis left the U.S. Army at 21 after two years of service, he said, he was 'severely depressed.' 'Nobody even came to help me,' said Chavis, who served as a watercraft operator, responsible for operating and maintaining tugboats, barges and other landing craft. Chavis said he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, which has made it difficult for him to keep a job. He just moved back to New York from Virginia after leaving a relationship. He's been at the housing shelter in Long Island City since January. 'What I'm trying to do is get settled in to, you know, stabilize into an apartment. I have the credentials to get a job. So it's not like I'm not gonna look for a job. I have to work. I'm in transition, and the obstacles don't make it easy,' Chavis said. The new SNAP work rules apply to all able-bodied adults between 55 and 64 who don't have dependents, and parents with children above the age of 14. Some groups, such as asylum-seekers and refugees, are no longer eligible for the program. Barbara Guinn, commissioner of the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, estimates that around 300,000 New Yorkers could lose SNAP benefits due to work requirements. Of those, around 22,000 are veterans, homeless or aging out of foster care, she said. Almost 3 million New Yorkers relied on SNAP as of March 2025. Veterans in other states are in a similar situation. In California, an estimated 115,000 veterans receive SNAP benefits, according to a study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The number is nearly 100,000 in Florida and Texas, and 49,000 in Georgia. Between 2015 and 2019 about 11% of veterans between the ages of 18 and 64 lived in food insecure households, meaning they had limited or uncertain access to food, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees SNAP. 'We know that SNAP is the best way to help address hunger. It gets benefits directly to individuals,' Guinn said. 'There are other ways that people can get assistance if they need it, through food banks or other charitable organizations, but we do not think that those organizations will have the capacity to pick up the needs.' A greater burden on states In addition to the work rule changes, the new law reduces federal funding for SNAP by about $186 billion through 2034 — a cut of roughly 20%, according to the Congressional Budget Office, an independent research arm of Congress. The federal government expects the new work requirements to reduce SNAP spending by $69 billion as people who don't comply are dropped from the rolls. SNAP has historically been funded by the federal government, with states picking up part of the cost of administering the program. Under the new law, states will have to cover between 5% and 15% of SNAP costs starting in fiscal year 2028, depending on how accurately they distribute benefits to people who are eligible for the program. This has been a strategic agenda to dismantle SNAP and to blame states for doing so. – Gina Plata-Nino, Food Research & Action Center SNAP deputy director 'This has been a strategic agenda to dismantle SNAP and to blame states for doing so, because they knew they are making it so incredibly burdensome to run and operate and unaffordable,' said Gina Plata-Nino, SNAP deputy director at the Food Research & Action Center, a poverty and hunger advocacy group. 'States are going to have to cut something, because there's no surplus. There are no unlimited resources that states may have in order to be able to offset the harm.' Guinn said New York expects to see a new cost burden of at least $1.4 billion each year. In California, new state costs could total as much as $3.7 billion annually, according to the California Department of Social Services. Kaitlynne Yancy, director of membership programs at Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said many veterans with disabilities will not be able to fulfill the work requirements or find resources elsewhere. And it's unclear whether states will be able to provide their own relief to people who are no longer exempted from work requirements or will be excluded from the program. 'It is a frustrating thing to see, especially for those that have been willing to put everything on the line and sacrifice everything for this country if their country called them to do so,' she said. Yancy, 35, served in the U.S. Navy from 2010 to 2014. She began to use food stamps and the Medicaid program, the public health insurance program for people with lower incomes, as she navigated life's challenges. They included going back to school to pursue her bachelor's degree, becoming a single mother, and a leukemia diagnosis for one of her children. Frequent trips to the hospital made it hard for her to work steadily or attend school for 20 hours each week, she said. Guinn said the new rules will create significant administrative challenges, too; even SNAP recipients who are working will struggle to prove it. 'Maybe they're working one month, they have a job, and then their employer cuts their hours the next month,' Guinn told Stateline. 'There are mechanisms for people to upload documentation as needed to demonstrate compliance with the program, but from an administrative standpoint, right now, we don't have any super-high-tech automated way of doing this.' Stateline reporter Shalina Chatlani can be reached at schatlani@ SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE This report was originally published by Stateline, part of the States Newsroom nonprofit news network. It's supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@ Solve the daily Crossword
