Govt.
Considers Making Felons And Lottery Winners
Ineligible for Food Stamps.
Major changes could be coming soon for two
groups of people receiving food stamps � certain
convicted criminals and winners of large lottery
prizes.
On Thursday, the Department of Agriculture
published a series of proposed rules that
would enforce laws passed by Congress nearly
three years ago.
The last farm bill, signed into law on Feb.
7, 2014, authorized federal spending for the
welfare program and prohibited both serious
felons and substantial lottery winners from
receiving benefits under the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program, according to
the proposed rules.
Section 4008 of the bill prohibited anyone
convicted of federal aggravated sexual abuse,
murder, sexual exploitation and abuse of children,
sexual assault, or similar offenses under
state laws, as well as those who are not in
compliance with the terms of their sentence
or parole or are fleeing felons, from receiving
food stamps.
Existing rules already prohibited �fleeing
felons and probation or parole violators from
obtaining SNAP benefits,� but now anyone
convicted as an adult of murder or aggravated
sexual assault will also be barred from receiving
food stamps, The Daily Caller reported.
Section 4009 prohibited households containing
a member with substantial lottery and gambling
winnings from receiving food stamps until
the household met the allowable financial
resources and income eligibility requirements
of the program.
The �substantial lottery and gambling winnings�
must amount to $25,000 or more from the lottery
before taxes in order to render the household
ineligible for SNAP benefits, according to
The Daily Caller.
In addition to these major updates, the proposed
rules also mandated that each state have a
system in place to verify the immigration
status and income of anyone who applies for
food stamps.
States currently have the option of using
verification systems to determine SNAP eligibility,
but the new rules � if enacted � would
require each state agency to create an automated
system for checking applicants� requirements.
More than 44 million Americans were reportedly
receiving food stamps as of Nov. 10, 2016,
according to U.S. Department of Agriculture
data.
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down on who can and cannot receive food stamps?
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applying for food stamps?
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