Representatives Josh Brecheen and Eric Burlison (R-MO) introduced two bills aimed at reining in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) spending—commonly referred to as food stamps—and getting Americans back to work.
“Under President Biden, food stamp spending has increased by more than 27% in just two years—the largest increase in the program’s history. This increase in spending was not done by an act of Congress, but instead by unelected bureaucrats willfully usurping Congress’ power of the purse. In addition to this Administration thumbing its nose at the Constitution, President Biden has encouraged many Americans to become too dependent on government, leading to an explosion of able-bodied individuals taking advantage of programs intended for those who really need it. As a society, we must be encouraging more people to work and lessening the dependency culture,” said Congressman Josh Brecheen.
“Temporary government assistance programs are supposed to be just that, temporary. Yet, millions of able-bodied Americans are receiving billions in government assistance at the expense of taxpayers and our national debt. It’s time to end the cycle of dependency. The America Works package makes common-sense changes to welfare for able-bodied working-age Americans and rolls back the largest food stamp expansion in 45 years. It’s time to get America back to work,” said Congressman Eric Burlison.
“Everything about the Biden administration’s spending habits have been unprecedented, so it’s no surprise that USDA blew past decades-old standards, peer-review processes, and expert advice to unilaterally increase benefits. This reckless action did nothing but increase dependency and further erode trust in Washington. Rep. Brecheen’s Thrifty Food Plan Accountability Act restores some fiscal sanity to the Thrifty Food Plan and helps this important program get back on track to serve the truly needy,” said Tarren Bragdon, President and CEO at the Foundation for Government Accountability.
Rep. Brecheen introduced the Thrifty Food Plan Accountability Act, which would eliminate President Biden’s unlawful Thrifty Food Plan increase that has led benefits to soar by 27%—the largest permanent increase since the program’s inception. The bill would also require any re-evaluations to be cost-neutral.
Rep. Burlison introduced the Ending Cycle of Dependency Act, which caps assistance for able-bodied enrollees at 5 years, eliminates geographic waivers states regularly use to skirt work requirements, expands work requirements to parents on food stamps with children over the age of 6, and raises the current age limit exception for food stamp benefit eligibility to 65.
