FOOD STAMPS

A requirement to work 80 hours a month, starting in September, could affect 44,000 Texans over age 49. Meanwhile, attention in Congress shifts to the farm bill’s significant impact on food stamp policy.

A new state law increases what SNAP applicants’ vehicles can be worth before they’re disqualified for federal food assistance. But most states don’t take car values into consideration at all.

The value of a household’s vehicles disqualified nearly 55,000 people seeking federal food assistance in 2022. House Bill 1287 increases the threshold of car values that lead to SNAP applicants being denied aid.

The USDA Food and Nutrition Service announced in May that it would expand its definition of sexual discrimination to include gender identity and sexual orientation. Paxton and other attorneys general are suing in response.

The pressures pushing up costs for consumers are also hitting agencies trying to combat hunger, making it hard to keep up with rising demand for their aid.

AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Health and Human Services will provide more than $168 million in emergency Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program food benefits to help people in the state during the COVID-19 response, Gov. HHS got federal approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide the maximum allowable number of SNAP benefits to recipients based on family size, according to a news release. Anyone receiving SNAP benefits is included. “SNAP, commonly referred to as the food stamp program, supplements the budget of the working poor. "The additional food subsidy announced today by Governor Abbott, although still supplemental, will help fill a portion of the financial gap created by the economic crisis resulting from this pandemic.

Local school leaders concerned with proposed SNAP changesPublished: November 4, 2019, 9:21 pmLocal school leaders are speaking out about their concerns with proposed changes to supplemental nutrition assistance program or SNAP benefits commonly known as food stamps.