Jordan introduces SNAP reform bill to emphasize work

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana, 4th District, has introduced House Resolution 2832, the Welfare Reform and Upward Mobility Act of 2017, a bill to reform the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The bill, sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, is modeled off of successful reforms implemented in Maine and the welfare reforms of 1996.

Of the legislation, Jordan said, “Welfare programs should serve as a temporary safety net, but for millions of Americans they have become a permanent way of life. Instead of giving impoverished families and individuals a helping hand, the current welfare system penalizes positive steps toward self-sufficiency. It’s time for this to change. I’m honored to work with Sen. Mike Lee to improve the welfare system, so that it helps our fellow Americans realize their goals and potential.”

Among other things, the bill would:

• Improve reporting of means-tested welfare spending

• Create state-run work activation programs to help SNAP recipients find work through vocational education, job training and job search assistance

• Focus on able-bodied adults without dependents, by reinforcing a 100-hour per month work activation program to help SNAP recipients rise out of poverty

• Modify Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) to fix existing provisions that penalize marriage, reinforcing the family as a primary way to combat poverty

Lee co-authored an op-ed with Jordan about the bill that was recently published by the Washington Examiner. To read the op-ed, visit http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/mike-lee-and-jim-jordan-make-work-and-marriage-great-again/article/2624062.

To read HR 2832, visit https://jordan.house.gov/UploadedFiles/Jordan.WRUMA.115th.pdf.

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