Reporting on President Trump’s accomplishments is starting to become a full time job!
Earlier today he wiped out anywhere from $60-280 MILLION in money to Planned Parenthood.
Also today he got China to agree to buy 10 MILLION metric tons of soybeans.
And now?
Now he got tired of dealing in those millions and moved on the BILLIONS, as a new move by his administration will save Americans $150 BILLION over the course of 10 years in reducing welfare abuse!
Absolutely incredible!
Here's more, from our friends over at the Western Journal:
The Trump Administration plans to implement a rule change to close loopholes that states have been using to exempt large portions of healthy, younger food stamp recipients from work requirements.
The new rule changes the application process for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps, from every two years to every year, and narrows the unemployment benchmark for applicants.
Administered by the Federal Nutrition Service, a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, for more than 20 years, states have been allowed to submit requests to the USDA to waive the federal work requirement for able-bodied adults without dependents in order to receive taxpayer-funded food stamps through geographic area waivers.
Federal law allows states to waive work requirements for areas with high unemployment rates (10 percent and above), and higher than the national rate (currently 3.7 percent). For decades, states have abused this flexibility in order to waive work requirements for as many ABWDs as possible, the Foundation for Government Accountability says.
“Despite record low unemployment rates nationwide, more than a third of the nation lives in an area where work requirements have been waived,” FGA said.
“The new rule reins in state abuse of waivers and other loopholes that have allowed states to avoid requiring childless, able-bodied adults to work, train, or volunteer at least part-time to receive food stamps,” FGA said in a statement.
The proposed changes could save taxpayers $15 billion every year over the next 10 years, USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue said in a statement.
“A central theme of the Trump administration has been to expand prosperity for all Americans, which includes helping people lift themselves out of pervasive poverty,” Purdue said. “The proposed rule, he added, “restores the dignity of work to a sizable segment of our population, which it’s also respectful of the taxpayers who fund the program.”
The FGA applauds the new rule but says that more can be done.
More loopholes still need to be closed “to prevent states from further abusing the process,” said Kristina Rasmussen, vice president of federal affairs at FGA. “The Department should be commended for asking questions and requesting comments on several areas that can be tightened further to promote work, including grouping of jurisdictions. There is now an opportunity for the administration to promote work for able-bodied adults even further.”
An analysis by Cheetsheet.com compared the USDA’s most recent state-by-state data with U.S. Census Bureau population data.
The 15 states with the highest percentage of residents on food stamps range from 14 to 20 percent of the population, costing taxpayers a total of more than $1.6 billion annually.
The top three states with the highest dollar amounts are Florida, Illinois and Georgia. The top three states with the largest percentage of the population receiving food stamps are New Mexico, Louisiana and West Virginia.
New Mexico has a greater share of people on food stamps than any other state — one in five, or 20.25 percent. The bill to feed them costs taxpayers roughly $58.58 million.
Louisianans are the second-most dependent on food stamps with the government spending about $112.61 million on more than 891,000 people, or 19.05 percent of the population.
In West Virginia, 18.27 percent of the population receive food stamps, 37 percent from working families, costing taxpayers $39.48 million.
In Washington, D.C., 18.06 percent are on food stamps costing the government $16.4 million. The CPBB reports that 26 percent receiving aid are from working families.
One News Now reports that there are more food stamp recipients than public school students in Oregon. About 17.73 percent receive them, costing the government $79 million.
In Mississippi, 17.68 percent of residents are on food stamps, carrying a cost of $61.32 million.
In Alabama, 16.31 percent of the population is on food stamps, costing taxpayers $95.45 million.
In Tennessee, 15.58 percent of the population receives food stamps, costing $129.73 million.
In Delaware, 15.42 percent of the population receives food stamps, costing the government $17.56 million.
According to US News, more grandparents are raising grandchildren in Oklahoma, which may or may not contribute to the 15.3 percent of the population receiving food stamps. The cost to taxpayers averages $73.11 million annually.
Even though Florida only has 15.2 percent of its population receiving food stamps, because of the sheer size of its population, 15 percent equates to 3.1 million people. More people receive food stamps in Florida than any other state, costing the government nearly $381 million annually.
More than 440,000 Nevadans receive food stamps, or about 15.06 percent of the population, costing taxpayers $52.71 million.
About one in six people in Kentucky, or 651,028, receive food stamp, costing the government $77.68 million.
In Illinois, nearly two million out of 13 million residents receive food stamps, or about 14.6 percent of the population, costing taxpayers $224.28 million.
Not having to work while also receiving food stamps, Secretary Perdue said, “is unacceptable to most Americans and belies common sense, particularly when employment opportunities are as plentiful as they currently are.”
Fox News explained more of the details:
The Trump administration is set to constrict work requirements for millions of people who receive federal food assistance and curtail just how much control states have in granting exemptions.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said the proposed changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) work requirements would save $15 billion over 10 years.
“Moving people to work is common-sense policy, particularly at a time when the unemployment rate is at a generational low,” Perdue said in a statement.
But the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) proposal has been chastised by Democrats and others who say more vulnerable Americans, including children, could go hungry with more stringent restrictions.
The USDA is allowing 60 days for public comments on the proposal.
Read on for a look at what the USDA hopes to change and what the rules currently dictate.
Who does the rule change target?
The USDA’S proposed rule change specifically affects able-bodied adults who do not have dependents – otherwise known as ABAWDs. Roughly 40 million people receive SNAP benefits on average. In 2016, ABAWDs accounted for only 3.8 million on SNAP, according to USDA figures. Of those 3.8 million, nearly 2.8 million are not working, the USDA said.
The rule change would not apply to anyone who is elderly, disabled or pregnant.
What are the current work requirements?
Those considered an ABAWD must work at least 20 hours a week to keep SNAP benefits. The work requirement can also be fulfilled through state-approved workfare programs or a SNAP Employment and Training Program.
ABAWDs can only receive three months of SNAP benefits within a three-year period if they don’t meet that 20-hour work requirement. Those limitations can be waived in states that have an unemployment rate of at least 10 percent or if there’s proper evidence of a lack of sufficient jobs.
Currently, states are also allowed to give extensions for up to 15 percent of their work-eligible adult population sans a waiver. And if a state doesn’t use up its 15 percent, it can keep the extra exemptions in a so-called “stockpile” to distribute at a later date.
What would the USDA’s proposal do?
Harp down on waivers: States would only be able to issue waivers if a city or county has an unemployment rate of at least 7 percent, according to the proposal. Waivers would only be good for one year and would need the governor’s support. Additionally, it would forbid states from granting waivers to geographic areas larger than a specific jurisdiction.
It would also limit the duration of waivers to just one year.
End the banking of exemptions: The USDA proposal would block states from banking the leftover 15 percent exemptions. It would also change the USDA’s calculation for adjustments to the number of exemptions available each year.
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