WASHINGTON — Despite the worsening pandemic, the Trump administration is pushing ahead with tougher work requirements for food stamps, and so far has not offered states the opportunity to cover the uninsured on an emergency basis under Medicaid.
The coronavirus appears ready to upend the economic landscape, especially for low-wage workers who could face layoffs as restaurants and entertainment venues empty, travelers hunker down, and school systems close. But so far the administration has declined to change course on its efforts to shrink the social safety net.
The Agriculture Department completed its food-stamp rule in December, arguing that the strong economy and tight labor market made it appropriate to require that unemployed, able-bodied adults without children find work to continue receiving assistance. The department estimated that nearly 700,000 people would lose their benefits under the change to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps.
Democrats and anti-poverty groups pleaded this week for the department to suspend the rule.
“Enacting any such changes during this time will only exacerbate current economic anxiety and unnecessarily increase the burden on the very people who need assistance,” Representatives Sanford D. Bishop Jr., Democrat of Georgia, and Rosa DeLauro, Democrat of Connecticut, wrote in a letter to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue.
During a hearing of the House Appropriations Committee this week, Mr. Perdue said that flexibility had been built into the program’s work requirements.
