Nearly 3 million people could lose access to food stamps under the proposed rule, according to the Agriculture Department’s own estimates. A second analysis released this week estimated that nearly 1 million children would lose automatic eligibility for free or reduced-price school meals, double the agency’s initial estimate.
The second analysis became public only after Rep. Robert C. Scott, D-Va., chairman of the House Education Committee, pushed for the Agriculture Department to release information that USDA officials had privately told his staff. Their initial estimate of the number of children who could lose automatic eligibility for free school meals, 500,000, was almost half the newest figure.
“While I appreciate that the USDA finally released its analysis, which I requested several times over the last three months, this small step forward in transparency is overshadowed by a tremendous step backward in the fight against child hunger,” Scott said in a statement.
In a rare show of flexibility for an administration that has usually pressed forward with regulatory changes despite protests, the public comment period will be reopened for 14 days so the public can weigh in on the second analysis. Almost 130,000 public comments have already been received, most of them in strong opposition to the rule change.
That is not likely to change.
“The additional analysis is woefully inadequate at addressing the concerns raised by tens of thousands of commenters and does nothing to mitigate the harm to low-income children from the underlying proposal,” said Zoe Neuberger, a senior policy analyst at the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
The Trump administration has tried three times now to reduce funding for or limit access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or the food assistance program. But this is the first time the administration has accommodated opponents to a rule amid criticism.
The department aims to close what it calls a loophole that allows people with incomes up to 200% of the poverty level — about $50,000 for a family of four — to receive food stamps. It also wants to prevent households with more than $2,250 in assets, or $3,500 for a household with a disabled adult, from receiving food stamps. Republicans often point to a millionaire in Minnesota, Rob Undersander, who said he received food stamps for 19 months even though he had significant assets.
“While this is likely not common, it is emblematic of a larger problem in these programs,” Rep. James R. Comer, R-Ky., said during a recent hearing on the proposed change.
The change would also affect children’s access to school meals because children who live in households that receive food stamps are automatically eligible for free breakfast and lunch at school.
Neuberger said such automatic eligibility has helped simplify nutritional support for low-income children and their schools.
The department estimates that as many as 982,000 children would no longer be automatically eligible for free school meals, almost double the initial estimate. About 45% of those children would still be eligible for free meals but they would have to apply, said Jonathan Butcher, senior policy analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation.
States have relied on automatic eligibility because “they know too many eligible children fall through the cracks when parents have to fill out and submit a paper application,” Lisa Davis, vice president of No Kid Hungry, said.
“Parents may not understand it. The paperwork may not make it home or it may not make it back to school. Vulnerable families can fall through the cracks,” Davis said. “There is no guarantee that they will end up reenrolled.”
Butcher said such concerns are overstated.
“If this is a family where the choice is between handling paperwork and not eating during the day, I would think that the family would make it a priority to make sure that the child is taken care of. We’re talking about something that is the difference between going hungry or not,” he said.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, and Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., recently proposed legislation that would provide free breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack to all school children. It would also provide summer meals to all children.
“When our children have empty stomachs, they cannot learn,” Omar said. “They have more trouble concentrating. They are more likely to be absent or tardy.”
This article originally appeared in
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