The Senate Committee on Health and Human Resources has passed a bill that would provide for eligibility and fraud requirements for public assistance by requiring the Department of Health and Human Resources to implement work requirements for applicants for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
The bill, SB 60, would also require the creation of a database to more efficiently ensure SNAP recipients meet eligibility requirements.
Senator Ed Gaunch (R-Kanawha) is the lead sponsor for the bill and said he chose to create the bill in order to ensure that funds for SNAP benefits are administered to those who need them most, rather than being used in possibly fraudulent ways.
Gaunch said the work requirement would make it easier to process eligibility for SNAP and is already a part of federal law that West Virginia has waived.
Gaunch also mentioned that the work requirement is already required in nine counties as a pilot program, and the bill would simply apply the requirement to the rest of the state.
Dr. Bradley Wilson, an assistant professor of geography at West Virginia University, said there are a few issues with the bill, including the fact that the pilot program was carried out in nine counties with some of the lowest unemployment rates in the state.
Wilson said the program is not sufficient enough to keep in mind 29% of SNAP-dependent families who live in “food deserts,” where there is not adequate access to retailers who consistently provide the required products for those benefits.
He said there is barely enough access to food, let alone jobs, in those rural areas of the state.
DHHR Deputy Secretary Harold Clifton said there would be some leeway available in the requirement for those who would be unable to attend to a job.
Clifton said the DHHR would need some additional staffing in order to keep up with the demands that come with ensuring and tracking employment for SNAP recipients.
Senator Corey Palumbo (D-Kanawha) proposed an amendment that would waive the work requirement for counties with adequate employment and volunteer opportunities to fulfill the requirement.
The amendment was voted down 8-7.
The bill will be referred to Senate Finance once reported to the floor.
