Waiver of Food Stamp Work Requirement (language only)

Item 390 #5c

Language
Page 252, after line 35, insert:
"G.  As a condition of the appropriation for this item, pursuant to the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, Public Law No. 104-193, the Department shall, in cooperation with local departments of social services, develop a request for a waiver of the work requirement for Food Stamp recipients residing in areas that do not have a sufficient number of jobs to provide employment for such individuals, including those areas designated as labor surplus areas by the U.S. Department of Labor."

Explanation
(The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 limits Food Stamp eligibility of most unemployed, able-bodied adults between the ages of 18 and 50, who are not responsible for the care of a dependent child or incapacitated household member, to three months in a 36-month period. PRWORA further authorizes the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to waive such work requirements at the request of the state agency which administers the program in areas that, (i) have an unemployment rate of more than 10 percent, or (ii) do not have a sufficient number of jobs to provide employment for the individuals who would otherwise be required to work. The Department has applied for, and received, a waiver only in jurisdictions in Virginia that have an unemployment rate in excess of 10 percent. This amendment requires the Department to also apply for a waiver in areas of insufficient jobs, including at least those jurisdictions which have been designated as "labor surplus areas" by the U.S. Department of Labor.)