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Oregon joins lawsuit over food stamps

By The Register-Guard
Published: January 17, 2020, 6:57pm

EUGENE — Oregon state leadership joined 16 states in a lawsuit to stop a United States Department of Agriculture rule that would limit states’ ability to extend food stamp benefits in places where jobs are scarce, a rule would eliminate food assistance for nearly 700,000 Americans.

The coalition of state attorney generals is urging the court to declare the rule unlawful and issue an injunction to prevent it from going into effect on April 1.

“The food stamp program has helped vulnerable Oregonians for over 40 years. It is hard to fathom why the federal government wants to punish thousands of adults in some of the most employment-impacted areas of our state — people who may not be able to find job — by taking away their access to food,” Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said in a news release.

While the federal government pays the full cost of SNAP benefits, it splits the costs of administering the program with the states, which operate the program. Congress amended SNAP in 1996 to introduce a three-month time limit on SNAP benefits for unemployed people from the age of 18 to 49 who are not disabled or raising children. The law allows a waiver of the three-month limit when areas demonstrably lack sufficient jobs.

The new rule eliminates individual state discretion and criteria regarding local economic conditions for waiving work requirements, resulting in the end of food assistance for benefits recipients who live in areas with insufficient job, according to the lawsuit.

The rule change has different language.

One portion of is says that federal programs should empower individuals to seek employment and achieve economic independence, while reserving public assistance programs for those who are truly in need.

In a declaration filed with the lawsuit, the director of the Self Sufficiency Program for the Oregon Department of Human Services, Daniel Haun, explained that as of November, Oregon had 347,941 households, for a total of 586,781 Oregonians, who receive SNAP benefits statewide. Of these individuals, 21,886 Oregonians are potentially affected if this rule goes into effect. Their average food benefit ranges from $166-$186 per month.

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