Why the change?

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said,“For too long, this loophole has been used to effectively bypass important eligibility guidelines. Too often, states have misused this flexibility without restraint.”

Meanwhile, Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., called the proposal “yet another attempt by this administration to circumvent Congress” and that the effect would be to “take food away from families, prevent children from

Undersander said.

“As a member who personally met with a millionaire that took advantage of the food stamp program to prove a point, I can tell you: Reform is certainly needed,” Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., said in statement.

Although Undersander failed to persuade Minnesota to change its policy, critics were more successful in Mississippi. On July 1, Mississippi implemented a state law prohibiting its Department of Human Services from using noncash benefits in other programs to trigger food stamp eligibility.

Proposed change

Under the proposed rule change, residents in all states would need to be authorized to receive at least $50 a month in TANF benefits for a minimum of six months in order to automatically qualify for food stamps. Subsidies for childcare, employment and work-related transportation would still count. But the proposal would stop states from linking eligibility to the receipt of an informational brochure.

The Minnesota Department of Human Services has estimated that 12,000 of its roughly 400,000 food stamp recipients could be cut off if the federal government eliminates its ability to use a brochure as justification for offering food stamps to those earning up to 165% of the federal poverty level instead of the federal threshold of 130% of the poverty mark.

Similar estimates aren’t available for all states.

Advocates for the poor say states’ exceptions to federal guidelines have helped people gradually transition off food stamps when they get modest raises at work and have enabled seniors and the disabled to save money without going hungry. Advocates also say the eligibility exceptions have helped people such as Vega, whose income may be slightly above the federal threshold yet have little money left over after paying high housing and utility bills.

“I think the Trump administration is trying to make a lot of hay out of how this policy option functions in practice to draw a lot of skepticism about it,” said Nolan Downey, an attorney at the Shriver Center on Poverty Law in Chicago who helped Vega apply for food stamps. “But I think if people have an understanding of what the outcome really was meant to be, it’s something that seems a lot less dubious.”