Should able-bodied food stamp recipients be required to find a job?

The U.S. House  will take up H.R. 3102, a proposal that, among other things, would end state waivers for able-bodied adults who don’t have dependents but receive food stamps. Mothers with preschool children would also face tougher work requirements under the proposed “Nutrition Reform and Work Opportunity Act.”

The new work rules would be part a plan to overhaul the $80 billion-a-year food stamp program, now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. 

According to an AJC report in July, Georgia has surged from having the 15th-highest proportion of food stamp recipients to sixth-highest in the nation, with much of the increase occurring during the recent recession. A year ago, the program provided food assistance to a record 1.91 million people in the state, nearly one-quarter of them six years old or younger. By this June, the program had added 40,000 more recipients, according to the state Department of Human Services.

In June, the U.S. Senate passed a farm bill that trimmed food stamp spending by $4.1 billion over a decade. The goal of the House proposal is to toughen existing work requirements while continuing to help the very poor, supporters said. One in seven Americans receive food stamps.

According to the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, a non-partisan organization, 168,000 Georgians could lose benefits. According to the Congressional Budget Office, a total of 2.8 million people would lose their benefits over the next decade, and 850,000 households would see an average reduction of about $90 a month in benefits, Politico reported.   The government would save $39 billion over the next 10 years, the CBO said.

Among other things, the bill would also block people who test positive for illegal drugs from receiving food stamps.  

What work rules would you suggest as part of an overhaul of the food stamp program?