{"id":204035,"date":"2024-09-23T09:39:08","date_gmt":"2024-09-23T19:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=204035"},"modified":"2024-09-23T09:39:08","modified_gmt":"2024-09-23T19:39:08","slug":"uhero-boost-snap-benefits-statewide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2024\/09\/23\/uhero-boost-snap-benefits-statewide\/","title":{"rendered":"UHERO<\/abbr>: Simple change could boost SNAP<\/abbr> benefits statewide"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

\"buildings<\/p>\n

A policy change by the State of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> could deliver up to $45 million in additional federal food assistance to qualified Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> residents, according to a new analysis from the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Economic Research Organization<\/a> (UHERO<\/abbr>).<\/p>\n

Co-authored by UHERO<\/abbr> Assistant Professor Dylan Moore and Nate Hix of the Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Public Health Institute, the report suggests that eliminating the “net income limit” for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP<\/abbr>) could extend benefits to an additional 13,000 to 14,000 households in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> by 2025. This change would bring an estimated $40 million to $45 million in federal funds to the state annually.<\/p>\n

Net income in SNAP<\/abbr> is defined as total monthly household income after deducting certain non-food household expenses such as rent, utilities, medical costs, childcare costs and others.<\/p>\n

Currently, Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> imposes a net income limit on SNAP<\/abbr> eligibility, creating a significant “benefit cliff” where households can lose thousands of dollars in benefits if their income increases by even a small amount. This cliff is one of the largest in any U.S. welfare program, potentially discouraging work and creating arbitrary differences in support for households with similar economic circumstances. The report estimates for a family of four, “falling off” the cliff will cost more than $10,000 a year in benefits—a large sum for a household that would be earning, at the very most, $69,000\/year in income.<\/p>\n

“Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> has an opportunity to leverage federal funds to significantly improve the lives of thousands of families by adjusting our SNAP<\/abbr> eligibility rules,” Moore said. “Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> could remove this benefit cliff by modifying its broad-based categorical eligibility (BBCE<\/abbr>) program to make a change that has already been implemented by 28 other states.”<\/p>\n

Removing the net income limit would not require legislative action and could be enacted by the state\u2019s Department of Human Services (DHS<\/abbr>). The proposed change would come at minimal cost to the state, which would only need to cover half of the additional administrative expenses. UHERO<\/abbr> estimates that for every dollar spent on administration, the state could secure nearly $18 in federal benefits for its residents.<\/p>\n

Greater flexibility for states<\/h2>\n

SNAP<\/abbr>, formerly known as food stamps, has traditionally been governed by federal eligibility criteria. However, in 2000, changes to the program introduced greater flexibility for states through the establishment of the BBCE<\/abbr> program. This shift allowed states to modify certain eligibility rules, such as eliminating asset limits and raising income thresholds for SNAP<\/abbr> qualification.<\/p>\n

Since October 2010, Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>, like many other states, has implemented a BBCE<\/abbr> program. This resulted in the elimination of SNAP<\/abbr> asset limits for most Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> residents and an increase in the “gross income limit” to twice the federal poverty line. However, unlike many other states, Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> maintained the net income limit.<\/p>\n

“By removing the net income test, Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> would provide a huge benefit to families in need with minimal cost to the state. This change would eliminate arbitrary unfairness from the tax\/transfer system, and to ensure that those who want to earn more money will gain rather than lose as a result of their efforts,” Moore wrote. “Most policy decisions are hard. This one is not.”<\/p>\n

UHERO<\/abbr> and HIPHI<\/abbr> have presented this policy recommendation to DHS. In response, DHS<\/abbr> has indicated its intention to pursue the removal of the net income test, paving the way towards a more efficient and equitable SNAP<\/abbr> program in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Read the entire report on UHERO<\/abbr>‘s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

UHERO<\/abbr> is housed in UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa\u2019s College of Social Sciences<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The report suggests that eliminating the net income limit for SNAP<\/abbr> could extend benefits to an additional 13,000 to 14,000 households by 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[301,197,1467,1363,1600,1026,9,343],"class_list":["post-204035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","tag-college-of-social-sciences","tag-economics","tag-manoa-excellence-in-research","tag-manoa-research","tag-public-impact-research","tag-social-science","tag-uh-manoa","tag-uhero","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204035"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204035\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":204044,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204035\/revisions\/204044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}