Debt deal sets stage for stricter SNAP rules

The latest: At a House Agriculture Committee hearing Wednesday on the upcoming farm bill, several witnesses testified in favor of further bolstering restrictions on SNAP, with some advocating for regulating the type of foods allowed.

• "SNAP's lack of dietary guidelines often leaves its recipients in poor health, limiting their ability to work and escape poverty," said witness Angela Rachidi, senior fellow and Rowe Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.
• Committee chairman Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.) hinted at a continued focus on work requirements, too: "Let’s move from states going out of their way to keep employable individuals idle and disengaged, and spend more time fostering connections with employers and education providers."

The other side: "I would say to those who are saying we should require SNAP recipients to have healthier diets, maybe one of the things we can do is expand the benefit," said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass) in the hearing.

• "You try having a healthy diet on an average of about $6 per person per day. It's awfully hard."

Meanwhile: Center for Law and Social Policy senior policy analyst Parker Gilkesson tells Axios she's "shocked" that Republicans managed to successfully incorporate work requirements into the debt ceiling agreement, which "pushed the needle" in a years-long congressional dispute.

• Past farm bill negotiations saw the House GOP advance proposals to significantly rework and cut funding for SNAP, but provisions to expand work requirements were met with bipartisan rejection.
• "If this was what they were able to do before the farm bill, than I am very concerned over what they're going to try to include in the farm bill," says Gilkesson — like limitations on what food can be purchased with SNAP dollars.

What to know: The debt-limit legislation's enactment increased the age limit for work requirements from 49 to 54 for able-bodied adults without dependents.

Yes, but: It also boosted program eligibility, by issuing work requirement exemptions for veterans, youth aging out of foster care and people experiencing homelessness.

Zoom out: Umailla Fatima, health policy analyst at UnidosUS, a Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization, tells Axios that while the SNAP changes coming out of the debt deal weren't all bad, it "opened the door" to an increased drive for more work requirements in the farm bill.

• "These requirements really mean that eligible families can lose benefits, even if they're working," says Fatima, noting a likelihood of added burdens in navigating food stamp verification systems, which already cause reported enrollment difficulties.

What we're watching: Because of the exemptions, the CBO projects the number of people eligible for SNAP will slightly increase after 2025, when the requirements introduced by the debt deal are in full effect.

Of note: Dottie Rosenbaum, senior fellow and director of federal SNAP policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, warns that these figures are uncertain.

• According to a new CBPP report she co-authored, nearly 750,000 adults are at risk of losing their SNAP benefits because of the work requirements.
• "We don't have very good data about how many people will be really losing eligibility. What we know is how many people will have their benefits put at risk," says Rosenbaum.

Between the lines: SNAP is a program where benefits are federally funded, but states are responsible for determining eligibility, so how implementation of the new rules will play out remains to be seen.

• FNS deputy under secretary Stacy Dean, whose agency administers federal nutrition programs, told reporters that the program's new exemptions "have to be offered and secured by states," per Politico.