Administration Expected to Reopen Comment Period on Proposed Rule Ending Categorical Eligibility for SNAP

The Trump Administration is expected to reopen the public comment period on a proposed rule to end broad-based categorical eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) after new analysis from the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), SNAP’s administering agency, suggested almost one million children could lose access to free school meals if the rule were implemented.

The rule published in the Federal Register on July 23 received over 127,000 comments during the initial 60-day public comment period (see Memo, 7/29). Original analysis of the rule’s impact indicated that, if implemented, as many as 3 million low-income people would be kicked off the program, and 500,000 children would no longer qualify for free school meals. According to the new analysis, as many as 982,000 children could be impacted by the rule change, with 497,000 children shifting from free to reduced-price meals and 40,000 children losing eligibility for the program altogether.

The administration is expected to reopen the public comment period on the proposed rule for 14 days. Once reopened, the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) will re-launch its comment campaign encouraging organizations and individuals to write in opposition to the proposal. NLIHC submitted a comment opposing the rule during the initial 60-day comment period (see Memo, 9/16) and encourages advocates who have not already done so to submit comments against it. 

Participate in FRAC’s comment campaign at: https://bit.ly/30Rlva4

Read the proposed rule at: https://bit.ly/2Y179He

Read FNS’s new analysis of the proposal at: https://bit.ly/2VUPs7R

Read NLIHC’s comment letter at: https://bit.ly/2kcfxRq