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Louisiana teachers' union concerned about educators' future; Supreme Court hears arguments in Trump immunity case; court issues restraining order against fracking waste-storage facility; landmark NE agreement takes a proactive approach to CO2 pipeline risks.

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Speaker Johnson accuses demonstrating students of getting support from Hamas. TikTok says it'll challenge the ban. And the Supreme Court dives into the gray area between abortion and pregnancy healthcare, and into former President Trump's broad immunity claims.

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The urban-rural death divide is widening for working-age Americans, many home internet connections established for rural students during COVID have been broken, and a new federal rule aims to put the "public" back in public lands.

SNAP Program Changes Would Hit Wisconsin Harder

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Friday, September 13, 2019   

MADISON, Wis. – If eligibility changes proposed for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are implemented, new research says Wisconsin could be hit harder than any other state.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture wants to end categorical eligibility, the practice of allowing families who receive other federal aid known as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) to qualify automatically for food benefits as well.

But the policy research group Mathematica.com says that change would impact almost one in five Wisconsin SNAP recipients, and 3.6 million people nationwide.

Sarah Lauffer, senior research programmer with Mathematica.com, says Wisconsin losses would be greater because the state already accepts more applications.

"We're seeing an estimate of 18% of their SNAP households that would lose benefits,” says Lauffer, “and that's equivalent to about 119,000 people."

She says the research indicates no other state has a higher percentage of households at risk of losing SNAP benefits, although North Dakota comes close, as 17% its SNAP recipients could be dropped. The research found 11 states would feel little or no impact.

The comment period before possible implementation of the eligibility changes runs through September 23. Lauffer points out that it's Wisconsin's current application guidelines that are putting more of its recipients at risk.

"They're increasing their gross income threshold from 130%, which is the federal threshold for SNAP eligibility,” says Lauffer. “They're increasing that to 200%."

The USDA characterizes the eligibility change as "closing a loophole." Lauffer says more than 21 million households receive SNAP benefits nationwide.


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