Supporters of House Bill 367 say losing food assistance would encourage able-bodied adults to get a job. Opponents say the bill would harm local economies, increase administrative burdens on school lunch programs and disqualify people for having even small savings. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
FRANKFORT — A bill that backers say is intended to encourage more Kentuckians to join the workforce but which advocates warn could lead to food insecurity passed out of a House committee Thursday along party lines.
Among other things, House Bill 367 seeks to give the General Assembly power over decisions about work requirements for Kentucky’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as SNAP . It passed the House Standing Committee on Families and Children 11-3 after about an hour of discussion. It can go to the full House for consideration now.
Rep. Wade Williams (LRC photo)
Sponsor Rep. Wade Williams, R-Earlington, said he wants to close “wildly abused loopholes” in the assistance program that are letting “34,000 able-bodied adults in Kentucky” be “on food stamps today between the ages of 18 and 50 who have no dependents.”