The policies and programs that provide for the basic needs of low-income and vulnerable people are under increasing attack. Efforts to cut or restrict these programs may take many forms, such as funding cuts or caps, transferring authority to states or localities, or restricting eligibility for services. Programs that provide necessities of food, health care, housing/utilities, education, and income and work supports have all seen attempts to curtail, cut funding, limit eligibility, or outright end them. Many threats to these programs have been proposed in the past, and more are expected in future.  The resources below provide information about emerging threats to services and benefits in 2019.

Organization Resources:

Work Requirements (See also: Food Assistance, Housing, and Medicaid below):

• Despite Mounting Evidence of Harm, New Hampshire Poised to Impose Harsh Medicaid Rules (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 12/03/2018)
• Another 3,815 Arkansans Lost Medicaid in November Due to Rigid Work Requirements (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 11/16/2018)
  
• Work Requirements for Cash Assistance Fueled Rise in Deep Poverty (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 11/13/2018)
  
• Medicaid Expansion Cut Uninsured Rate in Half for Low Income Rural Residents (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 09/25/2018)
• New Studies Confirm Harm from Medicaid Work Policies (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 09/25/2018)
  
• TANF at 22: It’s Work Requirements Do Little to Help Needy Parents Get Work (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 08/23/2018)
  
• Evidence Counters CEA Claims on Work Requirements (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 07/30/2018)
  
• Why Punitive Work-Hours Tests in SNAP and Medicaid Would Harm Workers and Do Nothing to Raise Employment (Economic Policy Institute, 07/26/2018)
• Do We Really Want Expanded Work Requirements in Non-Cash Welfare Programs? (Niskanen Center, 07/23/2018)
• The Trump Administration’s punitive proposal: Expanding Work Requirements in Non-Cash Welfare Programs (July 2018)
• Anti-Poverty Advocates Push Back on White House Poverty Report (Common Dreams, 07/13/2018)
  
• Head Smacker: The Theory of Winners and Losers (Coalition on Human Needs, 04/27/2018)
• Why Work Requirements Don’t Work (Coalition on Human Needs, 04/26/2018)
• Trump’s Medicaid Work Requirements: Meet Real Life (Coalition on Human Needs, 01/12/2018)
  

 

Food Assistance:

• SNAP Rule Would Take Food Away from People in Need in Areas with Too Few Jobs (Food Research & Action Center, 12/04/2019)
• New SNAP Rule Would Cost Many of Nation’s Poorest Their Food Aid (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 12/04/2019)
• A Punishing Blow: Trump’s Heartless New SNAP Rule will Cause More Hunger, Hardship in America (MomsRising, 12/04/2019)
• Trump’s Draconian Rule Will Take Food Away from Women and Families (National Women’s Law Center, 12/04/2019)
• CHN Comments to USDA in Opposition to Harsh time Limits for Certain SNAP Recipients (Coalition on Human Needs, 04/01/2019)
• Trump’s New Proposed Cuts to Food Assistance Circumvent Congress and ‘Amount to Nothing More Than Cruelty’ (Center for American Progress, 12/20/2018)
• Greenstein: Trump SNAP Proposal Would Cost Many of Nation’s Poorest Their Food Aid (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 12/20/2018)
• The Farm Bill Compromise Represents a “Major Victory for American Families” (Center for American Progress, 12/11/2018)
• Farm Bill Agreement Rejects Array of Harmful SNAP Provisions and Keeps Food on the Table for Millions of People Struggling Against Hunger (Food Research & Action Center, 12/11/2018)
• Bipartisan 2018 Farm Bill Protects SNAP (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 12/11/2018)
• Without More Federal Funding, 1.4 Million Puerto Rico Residents Face Food Aid Cuts (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 12/10/2018)
• House Committee Farm Bill Would Increase Food Insecurity and Hardship (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 06/13/2018)
  
• Video: Sandy’s Work Requirement Story (MomsRising, 05/16/2018)
  
• Letter to House Members: Vote No on the Farm Bill, Protect SNAP (Coalition on Human Needs, 05/15/2018)
• House Farm Bill’s SNAP Changes Are a Bad Deal for States and Low-Income Households (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 05/15/2018)
  
• Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities’ Letter Opposing Cuts to SNAP in the Farm Bill (Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities, 05/07/2018)
• How Farm Bill’s SNAP Cuts, Work Requirements Would Hurt Workers (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 05/04/2018)
  
• House Farm Bill’s SNAP Cuts, Work Requirements Would Hurt Veterans (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 05/04/2018)
  
• 6 Takeaways from CBO Estimate of House Agriculture Committee SNAP Proposals (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 05/03/2018)
  
• Faith Leaders Oppose Dangerous Changes to SNAP (Interreligious Working Group on Domestic Human Needs, 04/18/2018)
  
• Letter to House Agriculture Committee Leadership in Defense of SNAP (Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities, 04/17/2018)
  
• Conaway SNAP Proposals Would Increase Food Insecurity and Hardship (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 04/12/2018)
• House GOP Farm Bill Talking Points (Center for American Progress/Hands Off, 04/10/2018)
• SNAP Fact Sheet (Food Research & Action Center, 04/10/2018)
• SNAP Helps Workers Supplement Low Wages and Helps Them Between Jobs (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 03/15/2018)
  SNAP Includes Earnings Incentives (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 03/06/2018)
• SNAP Is Linked with Improved Nutritional Outcomes and Lower Health Care Costs (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 01/17/2018)
• Making SNAP Work Requirements Harsher Will Not Improve Outcomes for Low-Income People, (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 03/01/2018)

Housing:

• Trump, Ross Rent Plans Would Harm Low-Income People in Every State (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 06/07/2018)
  
• The Latest HUD Proposal Would Exacerbate the Housing Insecurity Crisis (Center for American Progress, 06/04/2018)
  
• Trump Plan Would Raise Rents on Working Families, Elderly, People With Disabilities (Includes State Breakdowns) (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 04/27/2018)
  
• After Attacking Nutrition and Health Care, Administration Now Targeting Federal Housing Program with Harmful Provisions (CLASP, 04/26/2018)
  
• Affordable Housing Advocates Tell HUD and Congress — Keep Affordable Housing for Low Income Families (National Low Income Housing Coalition, 04/25/2018)
• Advocacy Toolkit: Tell Congress to Protect Housing Benefits for Low Income People (National Low Income Housing Coalition, 04/25/2018)
• Housing Work Requirements Would Harm Families, Including Many Workers, (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 03/15/2018)
• Trump Plan to Raise Minimum Rents Would Put Nearly a Million Children at Risk of Homelessness (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 03/08/2018)
  
• Point of View: HUD Plans to Increase Rents and Impose Work Requirements – by Diane Yentel, NLIHC President, and CEO (National Low Income Housing Association, 02/05/2018)

Immigration:

• Public Charge: A New Threat to Immigrant Families (CLASP, 04/26/2018)

Medicaid:

• Low-Income Michiganders Sue HHS over Approval of State’s Medicaid Waiver Project (National Health Law Program, 11/22/2019)
• Puerto Rico’s Medicaid Program Needs an Ongoing Commitment of Federal Funds (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 04/22/2019)
• State-by-state rural fact sheets on threats to health care and Medicaid (Protect Our Care, 04/17/2019)
• Wisconsin Medicaid Waiver Will Reduce Coverage, Create New Barriers to Care (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 11/01/2018)
• Expanding Medicaid in All States Would Save 14,000 Lives Per Year (Center for American Progress, 10/24/2018)
  
• New Video: Work Requirements and Medicaid (Center for American Progress, 04/27/2018)
  
• How Medicaid Work Requirements Will Harm Older Adults & Family Caregivers (Justice in Aging, 04/23/2018)
  
• How Medicaid Work Requirements Will Harm People Who Are Experiencing Homelessness (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 04/18/2018)
• Ensuring Robust and Resilient Medicaid Programs in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands
• During Post-Hurricane Recovery and Over the Long Run (Center for Children and Families, 03/16/2018
  
• Work Requirements for Medicaid Don’t Work for People with Disabilities (The Arc, 1/11/2018)
  
• Work Requirement Proposals Would Kick Struggling Workers When They’re Down (Center for American Progress, 11/02/2017)
  
• Imposing Medicaid Work Requirements Would Be Bad for Children’s Health Too (Center for American Progress, 01/19/2018)
  
• Medicaid Work Requirement Would Harm Unemployed, Not Promote Work (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 01/11/2018)
• Medicaid Work Requirements Will Harm Families, Including Workers (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 02/28/2018)
• Medicaid Expansion Dramatically Increased Coverage for People with Opioid-Use Disorders,
• Latest Data Show (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 02/28/2018)
• Making SNAP Work Requirements Harsher Will Not Improve Outcomes for Low-Income People (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 03/01/2018)
• Contrary to Rhetoric, Trump Budget Would Make It Harder for Many to Work, Gain Skills to Get Ahead (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 03/13/2018)
• No new federal funds for workforce services for people at risk of losing Medicaid (Center for Law and Social Policy, 01/12/2018)
• Medicaid Work Requirements Harm Everyday Americans (Center for Law and Social Policy. 01/11/2018)
• Republicans in Congress Pass Tax Bill that Will Destabilize Health Insurance and Sets the Stage to Dismantle Federal Support for Working Families and the Elderly (Families USA, 12/20/2017)
• Civil and Human Rights Coalition Condemns New Medicaid Work Requirements (Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, 01/11/2018)
• Join NCLEJ in Opposing Trump Administration’s Misguided Medicaid Work Requirements Policy (National Center for Law and Economic Justice, 01/11/2018)
• On Work Requirements for Receiving Health Care Under Medicaid (National Employment Law Project, 01/11/2018)
• HHS’s Invitation to Impose Punitive Work Requirements Lacks Support (National Health Law Program, 01/11/2018)
• 1115 Waiver Tracking Chart (as of Jan. 5, 2018) (National Health Law Program, 01/11/2018)
• NHeLP Letter to CMS Regarding Work Requirements (National Health Law Program, 01/11/2018)
• NHeLP’s Waiver Publications (National Health Law Program, undated)
• HHS Approves Harmful Section 1115 Waiver Project in Indiana, (National Health Law Program, 02/02/2018)
• Indiana’s Section 1115 Medicaid Waiver & Its Impact on Health Equity (National Health Law Program, 02/05,2018)
  
• HHS Approves Harmful Section 1115 Waiver in Indiana: Effects on People with Disabilities (National Health Law Program, 02/05/2018)
• HHS Approves 1115 Waiver in Indiana – Harming Medicaid Enrollees Who Need Reproductive Health Services (National Health Law Program, 02/05,2018)
• Trump HHS Approves Extension of Indiana’s Legally Suspect Medicaid Waiver Project (National Health Law Program, 02/02/2018)
• New Work Requirements Constitute an Attack on Medicaid – and on Women’s Health (National Partnership for Women & Families, 01/11/2018)
  

Older Americans:

• Fact Sheet: Supporting Older Americans’ Basic Needs: Health Care, Income, Housing and Food (Justice in Aging, 04/23/2018)
• Issue Brief: Supporting Older Americans’ Basic Needs: Health Care, Income, Housing and Food (Justice in Aging, 04/23/2018)

Women:

• By the Numbers: Data on Key Programs for the Well-Being of Women & Their Families (National Women’s Law Center, 06/14/18)

Additional Resources:

• Nation’s Progress on Children’s Health Coverage Reverses Course (Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, 11/21/2018)
• Economic Security Programs Cut Poverty in Half Over Last 50 Years, New Data Show (Center on
• Budget and Policy Priorities, 09/14/2018)
• Trump’s Reorganization Proposals Affecting Low-Income Programs Raise Serious Concern (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 6/25/2018)
• Short-Term Plans Do Not Cover Life-Saving Mental Health and Substance Use Treatment (Families USA, 6/19/2018)
• Changes in Safety Net in Recent Decades Heavily Favored Working Families, Weakened Supports for Out-of-Work Families (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 6/18/2018)
  
• Chart: Progress for Many Human Needs Programs in FY 2018 – But More than Two-Thirds are Still Below FY 2010 Levels (CHN, 5/7/2018)
• The Trump administration’s Medicaid announcement isn’t really about ‘work’ (CNN, 01/11/2018)
  
• Work requirements will withdraw Medicaid’s ‘hand up’ assistance (The Hill, 01/12/2018)
• Trump’s Medicaid Work Requirement Will Backfire (The New York Times, 01/11/2018)
  
• Medicaid work requirements are a throwback to rejected racial stereotypes (USA TODAY, 01/11/2018)

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities SNAP and Medicaid Video Series (Released Sept. 4, 2018):

• Overview video: SNAP and Medicaid for Pittsburgh Workers
• Real people in Pittsburgh discuss why SNAP and Medicaid are so important to support their work and help them make ends meet — click here to see all the videos in one document, or click below to access individual videos.
• Personal caregiver Alandia Heard loves her job – but can’t always count on the same number of hours each week. SNAP & Medicaid help workers like her weather this instability.
  Julia Valles, who lives with mental illness, explains how SNAP and Medicaid help her work and be independent.
• Mike Hughes is a father of two and works for low-wages at a grocery store – Medicaid helps his wife get the care she needs, and SNAP helps him feed his family.
• Stephanie Fello is a prepared foods clerk with a four-month old baby. SNAP has helped her when she was between jobs, and it will help her now to afford food for her family.
• Shawna works long, unpredictable hours at a hospital. She thinks leaders in Washington shouldn’t make it harder for families like hers by taking away assistance if people can’t meet harsh work requirements because of unpredictability.

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities SNAP Video Series (Released May 31, 2018):

• Real people in Milwaukee explain why SNAP works, and why policymakers should keep it that way
• Sherrie Tussler from Milwaukee’s @HungerTaskForce explains how to combat hunger – it’s not with food banks
• David McCarter is an Army veteran and a health worker in Milwaukee. He explains how SNAP helps him put food on the table
• Milwaukee high school student Ammashadai Jackson explains how SNAP helps families in his neighborhood – including his – afford healthy diets
• Michelle Piche-Lichtman first used SNAP when she was working three jobs and struggling to make ends meet. It has helped her improve her health and nutrition
• Marine Corps veteran Sam Rinehart of Milwaukee reports that SNAP helps him focus on looking for a job, rather than looking for his next meal
• Chris Fezer is a disabled mom and grandmother, and her daughter is studying to be a paralegal. SNAP helps them put food on the table https://youtu.be/TclfKp8wGQc