The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — which helps more than one in 10 Tennesseans get groceries — is already in legal trouble in the state for delayed benefits and other mismanagement concerns. It could soon be undergoing massive cuts.
About a dozen beneficiaries and the nonprofit newspaper The Contributor filed a class action lawsuit against the Tennessee Department of Human Services, which administers SNAP. It argues the department routinely denies applications mistakenly, then makes the applicants wait for several months before getting their benefits. Federal law has a cap on delay times, and the lawsuit argues longer delays violate federal law. The residents had to spend money on food that would have gone to other expenses — at times leaving the applicants evicted or homeless.
Now the U.S. Senate is considering a budget bill that would, among other things, slash funding for the program, which is also known food stamps.
Under current law, the federal government covers the bill for SNAP benefits. In Tennessee, that’s about $142 million per month. If the Republican funding package goes forward, states could be on the hook for as much as a quarter of those monthly allotments. It would also increase the share of administrative costs the states have to cover.
Most states couldn’t afford it, according to the nonpartisan think tank Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. States aren’t allowed to take on debt the way that the federal government is. Lawmakers would have to move money away from other services, like education and transportation, or cut SNAP. That would mean making it harder to qualify, giving beneficiaries less money, or both of those changes.
The cost of a meal
Several studies depict what the “less money” route would look like.
The Urban Institute found that dropping the maximum benefit to $2.25 per person per meal would leave families in the lurch.
It calculated the average cost of a modest, homemade meal across the country. In Tennessee, that number was about $3.60 per person per meal. And it’s more expensive in some areas. In Williamson County, a modest meal runs more than $4.
The class action suit against the state was filed in January, and the two sides have been arguing the particulars before going into the investigation process.
The court just appointed Edward L. Stanton III, a former U.S. attorney, to oversee the case and act as an investigator. Appointing a “special master” is common in complex legal challenges against government agencies. For example, the U.S. Supreme Court appointed one in 2015 to oversee lawsuit where Mississippi alleged Memphis was stealing its groundwater from an aquifer.
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