New York is joining a coalition of 15 states, the District of Columbia and New York City in a lawsuit against the Trump Administration for tightening the work requirements for food stamp recipients, or the SNAP program.
Under current rules, work-eligible able-bodied adults without dependents and between the ages of 18 and 49 can currently receive only three months of SNAP benefits in a three-year period if they don’t meet the 20-hour work week requirement.
States with high unemployment rates or a demonstrable lack of sufficient jobs can waive those time limits, but new rules have imposed stricter criteria in order to issue waivers.
The suit claims nearly 700,000 Americans would lose food assistance, and New York Attorney General Letitia James says that includes 50,000 thousand in New York City and tens of thousands more statewide.
Foodlink has said that up to 100-thousand people could be impacted by the rule change
Credit Alex Crichton
“The federal government's plan doesn't provide work training or job opportunities. Nor does it take into account the realities of differing job markets in different parts of the country,” James said. “And that is the root of our lawsuit.”
James argues the Administration's changes to the SNAP rules are arbitrary, capricious and unlawful. James and Washington Attorney General Karl Racine are co-leading the lawsuit.