Sens. Cruz, Lee Propose Strengthening Work Requirements in Senate Farm Bill
File amendment to remove state SNAP waivers, bolster work requirements
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) today introduced an amendment to the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, which would remove state SNAP waivers, strengthen work requirements, and eliminate the treatment of able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs) as a separate population from other work-capable adults. Their amendment would also help states create and improve work activation programs for their disadvantaged citizens with resources like vocational education, job training, community service programs, and job search assistance.
“Under the previous administration, food stamp usage skyrocketed, with one in seven Americans dependent on food stamps,” Sen. Cruz said. “Expanding food stamps all too often traps millions of Americans in long-term dependency. By strengthening work requirements, this amendment empowers Americans who are experiencing economic hardship, and equips them with the resources they need to rejoin the workforce and climb the economic ladder.”
“The real problem with our welfare system isn’t that it’s expensive, but that it is culturally and spiritually debilitating — leaving the very people it purports to help estranged from the only influences that are capable of fostering upward mobility,” Sen. Lee said. “By restoring the link between work and assistance we can move one step closer to ensuing that poverty is not tolerable, but temporary.”
Read the text of the amendment here. A one page summary of the amendment may be viewed here and below.
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