Latest news with #HouseBill1915
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Proposed SNAP asset limit increase heads to Arkansas House after committee approval
Holly Skipper (right) speaks in support of House Bill 1915, sponsored by Rep. Jon Eubanks (left), R-Paris, before the House Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee on Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate) An Arkansas House committee approved a bill Tuesday that would allow households receiving food stamps to save more of their income or own more assets. Arkansas is one of 13 states with an asset limit for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients, and the state aligns with the federal limit of $3,000. House Bill 1915 would double the limit to $6,000 and require it to be adjusted for inflation every two years. The House Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee passed the bill on a split voice vote. On Thursday, committee members said they were hesitant to vote without knowing how much the policy would cost the state. The administrative cost to the Department of Human Services would be $87,500, according to the requested fiscal impact statement from the agency. DHS Secretary Kristi Putnam told the committee she still opposed the bill, repeating her statement from Thursday that the state should let Act 675 of 2023 take effect first. Act 675 kept the federal asset limit but authorized a USDA waiver request to allow exemptions for individual families with more assets. Those families would have a new asset limit of $5,500 and remain enrolled in SNAP as long as they receive an exemption within a year of exceeding the current limit, and they would only be allowed one exemption every five years. Advocates for child well-being call for removal of barriers to Arkansas SNAP participation Assets include cash on hand and in the bank, savings certificates and stocks and bonds, among other things. HB 1915 would repeal Act 675 and replace it with the $6,000 asset limit. Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, sponsored Act 675 and is sponsoring HB 1915. He expressed frustration in January and again last week that DHS has not yet implemented Act 675. The Arkansas Legislative Council's Executive Subcommittee approved an emergency rule Thursday to enact the policy. Earlier versions of Act 675 would have raised the asset limit to $12,500 and then to $6,000. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said at the time that she opposed making people more dependent on government benefits, a sentiment echoed Thursday by Opportunity Arkansas CEO Nicholas Horton and Tuesday by Nick Stehle, a visiting fellow at FGA Action. Rep. Jon Eubanks, R-Paris, is HB 1915's House sponsor and told the Public Health committee that the bill will give SNAP recipients a path to no longer needing food stamps. Rep. Aaron Pilkington, R-Knoxville, said he supported providing 'off-ramps' for Arkansans on government assistance, based on his past work with Section 8 housing assistance recipients. 'They would get a job, they're working, they're doing everything we want them to do, but then unfortunately they would get a promotion and potentially would lose their housing, so they wouldn't take the promotion,' Pilkington said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Three members of the public spoke in favor of HB 1915, with two saying they personally benefited from SNAP and saw the asset limit as a barrier to developing financial stability and food security. Brittany Stockton told the committee she enrolled herself and her three daughters in public assistance a few years ago after leaving a dangerous situation. 'Had we had savings, we would have been better off, but I wouldn't have been eligible for the benefits that I had,' said Stockton, who added that she has worked two jobs for two years and no longer qualifies for benefits. Holly Skipper said she also works two jobs and had to reduce her hours at one of them in order to receive SNAP benefits, which she received on Saturday, four months after applying. She is both a full-time student and a full-time caregiver for her husband and adult son, the latter of whom receives disability benefits, she said. 'Not only did I have to account for every dime that I was making in the two part-time jobs I had, plus school, plus my son's money, but I spent days and days crying, wondering which job I was going to have to quit so that I could afford to be able to feed my son and feed my partner,' Skipper said. Because of the SNAP asset limit, DHS required Skipper to explain why she owns a vehicle before approving her application; she explained she needs it to get her husband to his medical appointments, she said. 'People aren't just out there trying to stay down,' Skipper said. 'We're trying to get some help, and we're trying to get a leg up so we can help other people.' New report ranks Arkansas' food insecurity rate worst in the U.S. The federal asset limit of $3,000 isn't even one month's worth of savings in case of an emergency, said Christin Harper, policy director for Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, the third person to speak for the bill. AACF called for the removal of the asset limit in a January report. Harper reminded the committee that Arkansas has the nation's highest rate of food insecurity, at nearly 19% in 2023, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report released in September. The report defines food insecurity as being unable, at some time during the year, to provide adequate food for one or more household members because of a lack of resources. Food insecurity for Arkansas children is higher at 24.2%, which accounts for more than 168,000 children, according to Feeding America. Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance Advocacy Director Lance Whitney expressed support for HB 1915 last week. The full House is expected to vote on HB 1915 Wednesday. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Proposed SNAP asset limit increase hits roadblock as DHS takes action on 2023 law
Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance Advocacy Director Lance Whitney (right) speaks in favor of House Bill 1915, sponsored by Rep. Jon Eubanks (left), R-Paris, before the House Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee on April 3, 2025. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate) Two Arkansas lawmakers expressed frustration Thursday that their efforts to allow food stamp recipients to save more of their income were delayed. Arkansas is one of 13 states with an asset limit for SNAP recipients. Assets include cash on hand and in the bank, savings certificates and stocks and bonds, among other things. Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, attempted in 2023 to raise the asset limit from $2,250 to $6,000 for Arkansans to qualify for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. He and Rep. Jon Eubanks, R-Paris, are cosponsoring a bill this year with the same provision, and House Bill 1915 would also require the asset limit to be adjusted for inflation every two years. HB 1915 did not receive a vote Thursday after members of the House Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee said they wanted clarity about how much the change would cost the state. SNAP is entirely federally-funded with the exception of administrative costs, Department of Human Services Secretary Kristi Putnam said. Even so, Putnam said she opposed new changes to the SNAP asset limit while the state has not yet seen the impact of Act 675, the final version of Dismang's 2023 bill. Act 675 kept the $2,250 asset limit — which the federal government increased to $3,000 last year — but authorized a USDA waiver request to allow exemptions for individual families with more assets. Those families would have a new asset limit of $5,500 and remain enrolled in SNAP as long as they receive an exemption within a year of exceeding the current limit, and they would only be allowed one exemption every five years. HB 1915 would repeal this provision and replace it with the $6,000 asset limit. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed Act 675 after it had been amended twice. The original version would have raised the SNAP asset limit to $12,500, but Sanders said she opposed 'expanding welfare,' even after Dismang reduced the proposed limit to $6,000. Advocates for child well-being call for removal of barriers to Arkansas SNAP participation Earlier on Thursday, the Arkansas Legislative Council's Executive Subcommittee approved an emergency rule to amend DHS' SNAP Certification Manual with the requirements put forth in Act 675. When asked why the policy took two years to enact, Putnam told the subcommittee that DHS 'made it more complicated than it needed to be.' Act 675 and the new emergency rule allow families who qualify for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program to also qualify for SNAP. Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families expressed support for this policy change in a January report that called for the state to remove barriers to SNAP qualification and enrollment. DHS Division of County Operations Director Mary Franklin told lawmakers in January that enacting Act 675 did not require a USDA waiver as stated in the law, but the department needed to ensure it had the funding to enact the policy. Dismang said at the time that he was 'disappointed' that Act 675 had not been implemented at all in two years. He repeated this statement in an interview Thursday. Eubanks similarly expressed disappointment with the lack of action on HB 1915. He told the Public Health committee that he had been under the impression DHS was neutral on the bill. 'How long are we supposed to wait?' Eubanks said. 'I believe we need to move forward on this.' Republican Reps. Jeremy Wooldridge of Marmaduke and Cameron Cooper of Romance said they were sympathetic to the intent of HB 1915 but wanted to know the fiscal impact of the bill before voting on it. Putnam said DHS will examine income trends and try to project how many people will remain on SNAP longer under a $6,000 asset limit. She said DHS will have the fiscal impact report ready by Monday, and committee vice chair Wooldridge said members will vote on the bill Tuesday. The bill would have to advance with no roadblocks or amendments in order to reach Sanders' desk by the end of the legislative session on April 16, Dismang said. He also said potential fiscal impact should not be an issue, not only because SNAP is federally funded but also because allowing SNAP recipients to collect more assets while enrolled in the program 'should eliminate some of the turnover that may be occurring right now, so there may actually be a decrease in the demand that's getting placed on DHS.' 'I sure wish they were as diligent running impact [statements] on this as they are with some other bills that have run through the session,' Dismang said. If HB 1915 does not clear the Legislature by April 16, Dismang said he is willing to try again in 2027, but there might be some ways to address the asset limit 'that do not require legislation' in the meantime. In addition to Putnam, Opportunity Arkansas CEO Nicholas Horton spoke against HB 1915, saying it would keep low-income people reliant on government aid. Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance Advocacy Director Lance Whitney disputed Horton's statements while speaking in favor of HB 1915. He said most SNAP beneficiaries are only enrolled in the program for 18 to 22 months on average. 'We are currently looking at seniors, veterans and households who are looking for the ladder to get out of the hole… to get out of these safety net programs, but they need to have the rungs on the ladder to reach that,' Whitney said. 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