H.Republicans passed a debt ceiling bill last week that included provisions to create new labor requirements for those seeking federal assistance, arguing the measure would help cut federal spending.
The bill is unlikely to become law, but millions of low-income Americans who receive food stamps and health insurance from the federal government will have to work longer hours to qualify for benefits. The proposed provision is one of several demands Republicans are making in exchange for raising the nation’s borrowing limit for about a year.
House Republicans say the job requirements will reduce government spending and create more jobs, but some economists are skeptical that they will lead to significant federal savings. It’s going to cost a lot of money to do it,” says Lily Roberts, vice president of inclusive economics at the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning policy agency. “They will now have to hire hundreds of bureaucrats to manage the process of documenting all these working requirements.”
Republicans have not hesitated to refuse to raise the debt limit unconditionally. , the Treasury Department warned on Monday that the US could run out of money to pay its bills as early as June 1, a few weeks ago. more than I thought. Shortly after the Treasury Department’s announcement, the president reversed his previous stance of not negotiating with Republicans and offered to meet with Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy.
read more: Previous debt ceiling battle provides clues how this will end
The congressional budget office (CBO), a bipartisan agency, said last week that tougher work requirements proposed by House Republicans would cut federal spending by $120 billion over the next decade. generation. About 600,000 Americans will lose health insurance, and about 275,000 Americans will lose access to food stamps each month, according to the CBO.
Under the GOP package, healthy adults without children between the ages of 18 and 55 can only get food stamps for three months every three years unless they are employed at least 20 hours a week or meet other criteria. you can’t. That obligation now applies from her age of 18 to her age of 49, but has been suspended during the COVID-19 public health emergency.
The Republican debt ceiling package also requires certain adult Medicaid recipients to work at least 80 hours a month, perform community service, participate in employment programs, or earn a certain minimum monthly income. Applies to anyone between the ages of 19 and 55 who is pregnant, parent of a dependent child, physically or mentally unfit for employment, or enrolled in an educational or substance abuse program People are an exception.
For many Americans, the new labor requirements “could make things worse,” says Claudia Thahm, an economist and senior research fellow at the Jain Family Institute. “People who lose benefits because of their job needs are some of the most vulnerable adults,” she says. People who face serious disabilities lose the benefits.”
Rep. Matt Gates, a member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, is among those who have publicly called for tougher and longer working conditions for Food Stamp and Medicaid recipients. In a press conference last month, he said, “I don’t think hardworking Americans should pay for all social services for those who could make a wider contribution and instead are couch potatoes.
Despite these claims, economists warn that the government could incur additional costs when low-income people lose access to federal benefits, especially health care. If people lose Medicaid, it becomes a matter of uncompensated care,” says Roberts.
Economists who oppose labor requirements often point to past examples as evidence that labor requirements for welfare are ineffective. When Arkansas introduced its Medicaid work requirement in 2018, about 18,000 people — nearly a quarter of those covered by the mandate — lost coverage in about 10 months before it was dropped in court. rice field. Some beneficiaries who had jobs declined because they were unaware of the requirements or were unable to report their working hours to state agencies.
Still, a handful of Republican-led states are quietly advancing their own job requirements. Kansas lawmakers on Thursday largely followed party line to overturn Democratic Gov. New legislation, scheduled to take effect in July, tightens work requirements for Kansas seniors to maintain or receive SNAP benefits, and limits the age at which Kansas seniors are legally considered able-bodied adults without dependents. from 18–49 to 18–59. As a result, most food aid recipients between the ages of 50 and 59 must work at least 30 hours a week to qualify Must attend training.
Even if labor requirements for federal aid aren’t included in the final debt-saving bill, Republicans are likely to continue pushing the issue, said a senior fellow at the right-wing American Enterprise Institute. Says one Matt Weidinger. “The federal government will look for ways to come up with policies to reduce the costs of some of these programs.”
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