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A government accountability group says Congress should look into work requirements for able-bodied people on food stamps.
In a paper released Thursday, the nonprofit Foundation for Government Accountability says Washington needs to put serious consideration into requiring parents receiving food stamps to either work, train or volunteer on a part-time basis. Currently, 52 percent of able-bodied parents who receive food stamps don’t work. That’s according to the Department of Agriculture.
The public agrees. In a January poll conducted for FGA, 90 percent of voters polled think the able-bodied should have some sort of work requirement.
“We’re encouraged to see the public so supportive of these requirements,” said Jonathan Ingram, FGA vice president of research. “Republicans, Democrats, Independents across all demographics support able-bodied adults from welfare to work.”
The poll showed 83 percent of voters supported a work requirement for food stamps.
Illinois’ food stamp enrollment would fall by 317,800 people if the state was to place a work requirement on able-bodied parents to receive food stamps, the report said. It would see an estimated decline of 272,500 if the state excluded parents of infants in that requirement, still saving taxpayers more than $459 million annually.
Via the Illinois Department of Human Services, Gov. Bruce Rauner’s office acquired a waiver for non-working adults to receive food stamps, saying there were places in Illinois without enough jobs to support the work requirement. According to DHS, 174,000 Illinoisans will remain eligible for the benefit for 2018 that otherwise wouldn’t have.