Latest news with #SNAPE&T
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Rep. Bresnahan, colleagues introduce legislation to incentivize workforce training
Apr. 22—WILKES-BARRE — U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan Jr., on Tuesday said Northeastern Pennsylvania and the country are facing a skilled-workforce shortage, and businesses are in desperate need of those ready to roll up their sleeves and get to work. "Work is not a dirty word," said Bresnahan, R-Dallas Township. "This is exactly why we should not punish taking advantage of learn-as-you-earn programs and forcing workers to choose between participation in proven SNAP E&T programs and being able to receive their nutrition benefits." Bresnahan, along with U.S. Representatives Adriano Espaillat, D-New York; Max Miller, R-Ohio; and Alma Adams, D-North Carolina; have introduced the Training and Nutrition Stability Act. Bresnahan said this bipartisan legislation will close a loophole stemming from the 2018 Farm Bill — which disincentivized participation in learn-as-you-earn job training programs, like apprenticeships, through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Employment and Training (SNAP E&T) program. Through the 2018 Farm Bill, Bresnahan said Congress strengthened SNAP E&T by including paid on-the-job training as an allowable activity under the program. This included the addition of apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships as eligible programs. However, Bresnahan said the income earned through these programs is still counted for the purposes of calculating their SNAP eligibility. He said this increase in income can threaten their SNAP eligibility, and SNAP E&T in turn, forcing recipients to choose between pursuing this workforce training or keeping their food benefits in the short-term under SNAP. As a former chairman of a IBEW JATC, Bresnahan said he is a strong supporter of expanding access to learn-as-you-earn apprenticeship programs to help build the 21st and 22nd century workforce. He recently spoke about the need for this legislation during a House Agriculture Committee hearing regarding SNAP and work. Specifically, Bresnahan said the Training and Nutrition Stability Act would exclude income earned from SNAP E&T programs from the income considered for purposes of determining SNAP eligibility. "Last year, after release, more than 8,000 motivated people chose to walk through CEO's front door," said Sam Schaeffer, CEO of the Center for Employment Opportunities. "It is a time of hope and renewal. SNAP is a key part of reentry, but many people's benefits are reduced once they begin a paid job training program." Schaeffer said the Training and Nutrition Stability Act will help bridge the gap between workforce development and food security, allowing people to provide for their families and build a foundation for lasting independence. He said the bipartisan bill is primed to change many lives. Reach Bill O'Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
WV Senate Workforce Committee advances bill expanding work requirements of food stamp recipients
Members of the state Senate Workforce Committee met Monday, Feb. 17, 2025, and advanced a bill that expands work requirements for SNAP recipients in West Virginia. (Will Price | West Virginia Legislative Photography) The Senate Workforce Committee on Monday advanced legislation that would expand the work requirements for West Virginians who receive benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps. The bill would mandate participation in a SNAP employment and training program for able-bodied adults up to age 59 unless they meet a qualification for exemption. The programs are currently voluntary. Under the bill, exemptions include caring for a child under age 6 or an incapacitated adult, going to school at least part time, being employed at least 30 hours a week and participating in a drug or alcohol treatment program, among other things. With some exceptions, the federal government requires able-bodied recipients ages 18 to 54 to meet work and training requirements in order to receive SNAP longer than three months within three years. If the bill passes, SNAP recipients would be required to work at least 20 hours a week or be subject to a time limit on SNAP of three months within three years, and work 30 hours a week to be exempt from the state's SNAP Employment & Training (SNAP E&T) participation requirements, an attorney for the committee explained. The bill would allow the state Department of Human Services to exempt up to 20% of individuals from the SNAP E&T program work based on challenges that the person would experience complying with the requirements. The Senate passed the legislation during the 2024 legislative session, but the House did not adopt it. Sen. Rollan Roberts, R-Raleigh, told West Virginia Watch late last year he planned to reintroduce the bill this session. During that interview, Roberts said the bill combines compassion with responsibility. 'I don't know what they're doing with their lives,' Roberts said. 'They're not volunteering, seeking vocational training, or they're not working. OK, so what are these able-bodied adults doing with no dependents? They are not contributing to society in a positive way, apparently, and are we sustaining that lifestyle? And does that lifestyle impact other negative consequences everywhere in society? I suspect that it does. It's anecdotal proof.' Jeremiah Samples, former deputy secretary for the state Department of Health and Human Resources, testified before the committee on behalf of the Opportunity Solutions Project, a partner organization to the Foundation for Government Accountability, a right-leaning organization that promotes work over welfare. 'The most simplistic way to describe this bill is that this expands those work requirements [from 54] up to age 59,' Samples said. 'Ultimately the reason that I have been involved with this issue for many years and that the FGA and the Opportunity Solutions project is involved is that work gives individuals dignity. Employment gives an individual community. 'We're talking about giving people hope and an opportunity to better their lives,' Samples said. 'In West Virginia, and you all know many of our statistics, we struggle with a lack of hope.' West Virginia has poor rankings for workforce participation, poor mental health days, drug overdoses, adults reporting poor health, diabetes, obesity, middle age death rate, foster care rates, grandparents raising grandchildren, Samples noted. 'The bottom line is that West Virginia is caught in a vicious cycle where individuals and communities, they do not have the resources available to them to get into the workforce, nor the expectation,' Samples said. 'A mandatory SNAP E&T program lays out an expectation as counsel laid out but it also provides individuals with resources.' Samples said the legislation would have a 'negligible' impact on the state's overall workforce participation rate. Caitlin Cook, director of advocacy and public policy for Mountaineer Food Bank, said the redundant work requirements in the bill would add stress to the state's charitable food network. The organization opposes the legislation, she said. Some states that have had a mandatory work and training program have changed their programs to voluntary because they did not meet their employment and self-sufficiency goals, she said. 'We know in those other states that have mandatory SNAP E&T programs, it's both increasing food insecurity as well as not achieving the intended outcome of the SNAP E&T program, which is to connect people with tools, resources and opportunities to achieve self-sufficiency, and in turn no longer need food assistance through SNAP or the charitable food network,' Cook said. Mandatory SNAP E&T programs also typically struggle to meet federal regulations and increase bureaucracy, she said. The bill will next be considered by the Senate Finance Committee. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
