Georgia’s food stamp program is making headlines — and not the kind you like to see.
Tens of thousands of applications are backlogged. The state Department of Human Services blames it on a rapid, recession-induced increase in caseloads, combined with a decrease in administrators and a poorly designed administrative system. Now, the federal government is threatening to pull some funding until the state gets its bureaucratic act together.
Certainly, DHS needs to address the administrative problems. But the reality is that the food stamp program as a whole is far overdue for reform. Wise reforms would help ensure assistance is available to those most in need while encouraging able-bodied individuals along the path to self-sufficiency.
Food stamp rolls across the country have shot up dramatically the last several years, growing by 125 percent between 2003 and 2013. Georgia’s food stamp rolls increased at a slightly higher rate, roughly 130 percent, during that decade.
Not surprisingly, food stamp funding also soared, quadrupling between 2002 and 2012. Much of the program’s growth is connected to the recession, but rolls were expanding long before it hit in December 2007. Part of the reason is that policy changes implemented before and after the recession have made it easier for individuals to get on food stamps and stay there.
Take, for example, the policy known as “broad-based categorical eligibility,” adopted by Georgia in 2008. It allows states to fast-track individuals into food stamps. More problematically, it allows states to overlook a household’s assets when determining food stamp eligibility.
In Georgia and in most states, this means there is no limit to the amount of savings a household can have and still be eligible for the program.
Additionally, the food stamp program has no meaningful work requirement for able-bodied adults. A reasonable work requirement encourages individuals to get on the path to self-sufficiency and helps recipients preserve dignity. Yet even for able-bodied adults without dependents, the modest work requirement enacted with the 1996 federal welfare reforms has been waived in most states, including Georgia.
A work requirement also helps protect against fraud. Requiring food stamp recipients to report all employment or undertake a supervised job search decreases the odds a person will be able to collect food stamps while secretly holding down a job.
The food stamp funding formula also needs reform. Currently, 95 percent of program funds come from the federal government. With so little “skin in the game,” states have little incentive to ensure funds are used efficiently. To encourage wiser use of these taxpayer dollars, states should gradually take on a portion of food stamp funding.
The reach and cost of food stamps have exploded over the last decade. It is past time for reform. We should jettison policies, such as broad-based categorical eligibility, that allow benefits to flow to those not truly in need. Critically, food stamps must include a work requirement for able-bodied adults to encourage self-sufficiency, as well as to ensure that resources are going to the neediest.
States can take both of these steps now. In Georgia, it would mark much needed progress toward helping individuals in need and getting food stamps back on track.
Rachel Sheffield is a policy analyst specializing in welfare and family issues at the Heritage Foundation.
