WASHINGTON -- After passing a tax bill that gives most of its benefits to wealthy Americans, House Republicans are considering legislation that could take away food stamps from 35,000 poorer New Jerseyans, according to a report from a progressive research group.
Legislation renewing farm subsidies for five years would impose new restrictions on those receiving food stamps, officially known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, including work requirements and new rules on eligibility.
New Jersey and other states that have extended coverage to families whose income exceeds federal limits would no longer be allowed to do so. Instead of phasing out the benefits as incomes rise, such households automatically would lose their food stamps as soon as they exceeded the limit.
That means an estimated 10,000 households, or 35,000 individuals, could lose their benefits, according to a study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
The group's vice president of food assistance, Paterson native Stacy Dean, said repealing the provision, which has been in effect since 1996, will discourage food stamp recipients from working additional hours because their benefit loss won't compensate for their extra income.
"The idea is to earn your way up the ladder and not face a benefit loss," Dean said. "If you're offered a raise or extra hours, your income would go down."
Food stamps are available to those making no more than 130 percent of the poverty level of $20,780 for a family of three. But New Jersey, like other states, has increased the eligibility to 185 percent of the poverty level, though the food stamp benefit decreases as income rises.
According to the center, a family at 135 percent of the poverty level, or $2,253 a month in 2016, would get $111 in food stamps, bring its total resources to $2,364. The GOP bill would end that food stamp benefit.
A family making 129 percent of the poverty level, or $2,166, would still get $142 in food stamps, for a total of $2,308, the center said.
House Agriculture Committee spokeswoman Rachel Millard said the President Barack Obama's administration "broadly" used the provision in question to provide food stamps to families whose income levels far exceeded the maximum.
Millard said "anyone meeting the asset and income eligibility tests will remain eligible."
A committee fact sheet rejected the estimates of how many will lose benefits, saying that many of those currently in the program never were properly certified.
Dean said that anyone receiving food stamps must be certified and provide documents to ensure they're eligible.
The farm bill traditionally has included funding for nutrition programs in order to secure support from urban lawmakers, whose votes are needed for passage.
Adding the new food stamp restrictions could jeopardize passage in the Senate, where 60 votes are required and Democrats may not want to penalize the poor.
Agriculture Committee Chairman Chairman K. Michael Conaway, R-Texas, expressed that concern when the panel passed the bill and sent it to the House floor.
"I am hopeful Democrats will not hold the nation's farmers and ranchers hostage in this process over the SNAP work and training requirements, which will provide SNAP beneficiaries not just a benefit, but a better future that only a job can provide," Conaway said.
The stringent food stamp requirements, which CBPP estimates could take away benefits from almost 1 million Americans, follows congressional approval of a Republican tax bill that gave 43 percent of its benefits to the top 5 percent of taxpayers, according to the Tax Policy Center.
The research group is a joint venture of the progressive Urban Institute and Brookings Institution and its advisory board includes experts who formerly served in Democratic or Republican administrations.
Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.