After two decades without any substantial federal welfare reform, the House of Representatives delivered desperately needed change with Thursday’s passage of the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018. The House Farm Bill follows 2018’s trend of welfare reform momentum, building on the Trump administration’s executive order calling on agencies to promote work within welfare programs. The House Farm Bill also builds on successful reforms implemented in states like Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, and Wisconsin.
It’s a historic moment, and one that should be celebrated — millions of Americans will now have the opportunity to experience the power and independence of work.
The bill expands commonsense work requirements to more able-bodied adults receiving food stamps, requiring them to work, train, or volunteer for at least 20 hours per week to remain eligible. And it closes loopholes that allowed states to waive these requirements, ensuring that those who are able to work are given the opportunity to do so.
The number of able-bodied adults dependent on food stamps is near record highs. Despite being near a record-low unemployment rate and nearly 7 million open jobs across the country, most able-bodied adults on food stamps do not work at all.
[Also read: 54% of alien children, teens, on welfare, nearly half for adults]
But the House Farm Bill will change that. It takes steps to tighten eligibility requirements, while ensuring that those who truly need help can still access it, and closes loopholes to end state abuse. It eliminates loopholes that allow millionaires to receive food stamps. It cracks down on fraud by ensuring individuals can’t collect welfare in multiple states. And it ensures that taxpayer resources are preserved for the truly needy — seniors, poor children, and individuals with disabilities — instead of able-bodied adults who choose not to work.
And perhaps most importantly, it highlights the importance of work.
We know how important this bill is because we’ve seen what happens when these work requirements have been implemented at the state level. In Kansas, able-bodied adults who left welfare after work requirements were implemented saw their incomes more than double, on average. Their time spent on welfare was cut in half and they found work in more than 600 diverse industries. Other states have seen similar experiences.
And the positive effects don’t just end with themselves — they’re transferred on to their children and their families. In expanding work requirements to more populations of able-bodied adults, the House Farm Bill takes a step in ensuring that future generations are exposed to the life-changing effects of work.
These positive effects are why the majority of American voters, regardless of party affiliation, support work requirements for able-bodied adults. In fact, 82 percent of American voters supported the work reforms included in the House Farm bill — a clear indication that voters are fed up with a broken welfare system. And in passing the bill, lawmakers within the House made it clear that they are listening.
It’s been more than 20 years since the bipartisan 1996 welfare reforms that first implemented work requirements. Since then, executive and state actions have undermined those reforms and opened the floodgates to millions of Americans who are, can, and should be working.
Thursday’s vote signaled a shift in policy and perspective. It’s a signal that the welfare system is on its way back to its original intent: to serve as a temporary stop for the most vulnerable, not a final destination for able-bodied Americans. And it’s a signal that finally, welfare reform is here.
Kristina Rasmussen is vice president of federal affairs at the Foundation for Government Accountability.
