{ "id": "R42054", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "R", "number": "R42054", "active": true, "source": "CRSReports.Congress.gov, EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source_dir": "crsreports.congress.gov", "title": "The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP): Categorical Eligibility", "retrieved": "2022-04-02T04:03:54.229078", "id": "R42054_58_2022-02-25", "formats": [ { "filename": "files/2022-02-25_R42054_7aecaf939c1602940dc5ed39d9be8b6c86e41239.pdf", "format": "PDF", "url": "https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R42054/58", "sha1": "7aecaf939c1602940dc5ed39d9be8b6c86e41239" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/2022-02-25_R42054_7aecaf939c1602940dc5ed39d9be8b6c86e41239.html" } ], "date": "2022-02-25", "summary": null, "source": "CRSReports.Congress.gov", "typeId": "R", "active": true, "sourceLink": "https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/details?prodcode=R42054", "type": "CRS Report" }, { "source_dir": "crsreports.congress.gov", "title": "The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP): Categorical Eligibility", "retrieved": "2022-04-02T04:03:54.228260", "id": "R42054_57_2021-08-10", "formats": [ { "filename": "files/2021-08-10_R42054_af0611caa2f0a5d8b5c9df92b3b64af96bee176f.pdf", "format": "PDF", "url": "https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R42054/57", "sha1": "af0611caa2f0a5d8b5c9df92b3b64af96bee176f" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/2021-08-10_R42054_af0611caa2f0a5d8b5c9df92b3b64af96bee176f.html" } ], "date": "2021-08-10", "summary": null, "source": "CRSReports.Congress.gov", "typeId": "R", "active": true, "sourceLink": "https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/details?prodcode=R42054", "type": "CRS Report" }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 606873, "date": "2019-10-25", "retrieved": "2019-10-30T22:03:08.597140", "title": "The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP): Categorical Eligibility", "summary": "The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides benefits to low-income, eligible households on an electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card; benefits can then be exchanged for foods at authorized retailers. SNAP reaches a large share of low-income households. In FY2018, a monthly average of 40.3 million persons in 20.1 million households participated in SNAP. \nFederal SNAP law provides two basic pathways for financial eligibility to the program: (1) meeting program-specific federal eligibility requirements; or (2) being automatically or \u201ccategorically\u201d eligible for SNAP based on being eligible for or receiving benefits from other specified low-income assistance programs. Categorical eligibility eliminated the requirement that households who already met financial eligibility rules in one specified low-income program go through another financial eligibility determination in SNAP. \nIn its traditional form, categorical eligibility conveys SNAP eligibility based on household receipt of cash assistance from Supplemental Security Income (SSI), the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant, or state-run General Assistance (GA) programs. However, since the 1996 welfare reform law, states have been able to expand categorical eligibility beyond its traditional bounds. That law created TANF to replace the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program, which was a traditional cash assistance program. TANF is a broad-purpose block grant that finances a wide range of social and human services. TANF gives states flexibility in meeting its goals, resulting in a wide variation of benefits and services offered among the states. SNAP allows states to convey categorical eligibility based on receipt of a TANF \u201cbenefit,\u201d not just TANF cash welfare. This provides states with the ability to convey categorical eligibility based on a wide range of benefits and services. TANF benefits other than cash assistance typically are available to a broader range of households and at higher levels of income than are TANF cash assistance benefits.\nAs of July 2019, 42 jurisdictions have implemented what the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has called \u201cbroad-based\u201d categorical eligibility. These jurisdictions generally make all households with incomes below a state-determined income threshold eligible for SNAP. States do this by providing households with a low-cost TANF-funded benefit or service such as a brochure or referral to a telephone hotline. There are varying income eligibility thresholds within states that convey \u201cbroad-based\u201d categorical eligibility, though no state may have a gross income limit above 200% of the federal poverty guidelines. In all but six of these jurisdictions, there is no asset test required for SNAP eligibility. Categorically eligible families bypass the regular SNAP asset limits. However, their net incomes (income after deductions for expenses) must still be low enough to qualify for a SNAP benefit. That is, it is possible to be categorically eligible for SNAP but have net income too high to actually receive a benefit. The exception to this is one- or two-person households that would still receive the minimum benefit.\nNeither the Agriculture Act of 2014 (\u201c2014 Farm Bill,\u201d P.L. 113-79) nor the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (\u201c2018 Farm Bill,\u201d P.L. 115-334) made changes to SNAP categorical eligibility rules. In the 113th Congress, the House-passed version of the 2014 law would have eliminated broad-based categorical eligibility, but that change was not included in the conference agreement. In the 115th Congress, the House-passed version of the 2018 law would have made changes to limit but not eliminate broad-based categorical eligibility; these changes were not included in the conference agreement. \nOn July 24, 2019, the Trump Administration published a proposed rule to amend the categorical eligibility regulations, proposing to limit the TANF-funded benefits that may convey categorical eligibility.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/R42054", "sha1": "9c955f8a2d279da95a98250835988f5affb1e8c3", "filename": "files/20191025_R42054_9c955f8a2d279da95a98250835988f5affb1e8c3.html", "images": { "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R42054_files&id=/0.png": "files/20191025_R42054_images_c6030de451e034e59206179e2b7383d347d46a16.png" } }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R42054", "sha1": "fbae9c4606a9cc14acb9f67523af16aef76d28fa", "filename": "files/20191025_R42054_fbae9c4606a9cc14acb9f67523af16aef76d28fa.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4856, "name": "Nutrition Programs & Policies" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4917, "name": "Food & Nutrition Assistance" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 603484, "date": "2019-08-01", "retrieved": "2019-09-16T22:19:11.293958", "title": "The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP): Categorical Eligibility", "summary": "The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides benefits to low-income, eligible households on an electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card; benefits can then be exchanged for foods at authorized retailers. SNAP reaches a large share of low-income households. In FY2018, a monthly average of 40.3 million persons in 20.1 million households participated in SNAP. \nFederal SNAP law provides two basic pathways for financial eligibility to the program: (1) meeting program-specific federal eligibility requirements; or (2) being automatically or \u201ccategorically\u201d eligible for SNAP based on being eligible for or receiving benefits from other specified low-income assistance programs. Categorical eligibility eliminated the requirement that households who already met financial eligibility rules in one specified low-income program go through another financial eligibility determination in SNAP. \nIn its traditional form, categorical eligibility conveys SNAP eligibility based on household receipt of cash assistance from Supplemental Security Income (SSI), the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant, or state-run General Assistance (GA) programs. However, since the 1996 welfare reform law, states have been able to expand categorical eligibility beyond its traditional bounds. That law created TANF to replace the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program, which was a traditional cash assistance program. TANF is a broad-purpose block grant that finances a wide range of social and human services. TANF gives states flexibility in meeting its goals, resulting in a wide variation of benefits and services offered among the states. SNAP allows states to convey categorical eligibility based on receipt of a TANF \u201cbenefit,\u201d not just TANF cash welfare. This provides states with the ability to convey categorical eligibility based on a wide range of benefits and services. TANF benefits other than cash assistance typically are available to a broader range of households and at higher levels of income than are TANF cash assistance benefits.\nAs of July 2019, 42 jurisdictions have implemented what the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has called \u201cbroad-based\u201d categorical eligibility. These jurisdictions generally make all households with incomes below a state-determined income threshold eligible for SNAP. States do this by providing households with a low-cost TANF-funded benefit or service such as a brochure or referral to a telephone hotline. There are varying income eligibility thresholds within states that convey \u201cbroad-based\u201d categorical eligibility, though no state may have a gross income limit above 200% of the federal poverty guidelines. In all but six of these jurisdictions, there is no asset test required for SNAP eligibility. Categorically eligible families bypass the regular SNAP asset limits. However, their net incomes (income after deductions for expenses) must still be low enough to qualify for a SNAP benefit. That is, it is possible to be categorically eligible for SNAP but have net income too high to actually receive a benefit. The exception to this is one- or two-person households that would still receive the minimum benefit.\nNeither the Agriculture Act of 2014 (\u201c2014 Farm Bill,\u201d P.L. 113-79) nor the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (\u201c2018 Farm Bill,\u201d P.L. 115-334) made changes to SNAP categorical eligibility rules. In the 113th Congress, the House-passed version of the 2014 law would have eliminated broad-based categorical eligibility, but that change was not included in the conference agreement. In the 115th Congress, the House-passed version of the 2018 law would have made changes to limit but not eliminate broad-based categorical eligibility; these changes were not included in the conference agreement. \nOn July 24, 2019, the Trump Administration published a proposed rule to amend the categorical eligibility regulations, proposing to limit the TANF-funded benefits that may convey categorical eligibility.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/R42054", "sha1": "418c75cac939a5d47c91dae20fddfed5e3de9a1f", "filename": "files/20190801_R42054_418c75cac939a5d47c91dae20fddfed5e3de9a1f.html", "images": { "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R42054_files&id=/0.png": "files/20190801_R42054_images_c6030de451e034e59206179e2b7383d347d46a16.png" } }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R42054", "sha1": "a9f0a3ae2057c7608cfc8ab9adf12700c6c45096", "filename": "files/20190801_R42054_a9f0a3ae2057c7608cfc8ab9adf12700c6c45096.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4856, "name": "Nutrition Programs & Policies" }, { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4917, "name": "Food & Nutrition Assistance" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 602879, "date": "2019-07-26", "retrieved": "2019-07-26T22:19:21.587083", "title": "The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP): Categorical Eligibility", "summary": "The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides benefits to low-income, eligible households on an electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card; benefits can then be exchanged for foods at authorized retailers. SNAP reaches a large share of low-income households. In FY2018, a monthly average of 40.3 million persons in 20.1 million households participated in SNAP. \nFederal SNAP law provides two basic pathways for financial eligibility to the program: (1) meeting program-specific federal eligibility requirements; or (2) being automatically or \u201ccategorically\u201d eligible for SNAP based on being eligible for or receiving benefits from other specified low-income assistance programs. Categorical eligibility eliminated the requirement that households who already met financial eligibility rules in one specified low-income program go through another financial eligibility determination in SNAP. \nIn its traditional form, categorical eligibility conveys SNAP eligibility based on household receipt of cash assistance from Supplemental Security Income (SSI), the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant, or state-run General Assistance (GA) programs. However, since the 1996 welfare reform law, states have been able to expand categorical eligibility beyond its traditional bounds. That law created TANF to replace the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program, which was a traditional cash assistance program. TANF is a broad-purpose block grant that finances a wide range of social and human services. TANF gives states flexibility in meeting its goals, resulting in a wide variation of benefits and services offered among the states. SNAP allows states to convey categorical eligibility based on receipt of a TANF \u201cbenefit,\u201d not just TANF cash welfare. This provides states with the ability to convey categorical eligibility based on a wide range of benefits and services. TANF benefits other than cash assistance typically are available to a broader range of households and at higher levels of income than are TANF cash assistance benefits.\nAs of October 2018, 43 jurisdictions have implemented what the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has called \u201cbroad-based\u201d categorical eligibility. These jurisdictions generally make all households with incomes below a state-determined income threshold eligible for SNAP. States do this by providing households with a low-cost TANF-funded benefit or service such as a brochure or referral to a telephone hotline. There are varying income eligibility thresholds within states that convey \u201cbroad-based\u201d categorical eligibility, though no state may have a gross income limit above 200% of the federal poverty guidelines. In all but six of these jurisdictions, there is no asset test required for SNAP eligibility. Categorically eligible families bypass the regular SNAP asset limits. However, their net incomes (income after deductions for expenses) must still be low enough to qualify for a SNAP benefit. That is, it is possible to be categorically eligible for SNAP but have net income too high to actually receive a benefit. The exception to this is one- or two-person households that would still receive the minimum benefit.\nNeither the Agriculture Act of 2014 (\u201c2014 Farm Bill,\u201d P.L. 113-79) nor the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (\u201c2018 Farm Bill,\u201d P.L. 115-334) made changes to SNAP categorical eligibility rules. In the 113th Congress, the House-passed version of the 2014 law would have eliminated broad-based categorical eligibility, but that change was not included in the conference agreement. In the 115th Congress, the House-passed version of the 2018 law would have made changes to limit but not eliminate broad-based categorical eligibility; these changes were not included in the conference agreement. \nOn July 24, 2019, the Trump Administration published a proposed rule to amend the categorical eligibility regulations, proposing to limit the TANF-funded benefits that may convey categorical eligibility.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/R42054", "sha1": "e35f3b0ae49c40f12a40427541f96820da36755c", "filename": "files/20190726_R42054_e35f3b0ae49c40f12a40427541f96820da36755c.html", "images": { "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R42054_files&id=/0.png": "files/20190726_R42054_images_38438e3ba85bc8c32e8f9923a08104269ce0138c.png" } }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R42054", "sha1": "fc658fbb16a70c702765ea5cd772eef3d0a85452", "filename": "files/20190726_R42054_fc658fbb16a70c702765ea5cd772eef3d0a85452.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 589624, "date": "2019-01-04", "retrieved": "2019-04-17T14:39:07.265178", "title": "The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP): Categorical Eligibility", "summary": "The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides benefits to low-income, eligible households on an electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card; benefits can then be exchanged for foods at authorized retailers. SNAP reaches a large share of low-income households. In FY2018, a monthly average of 40.3 million persons in 20.1 million households participated in SNAP. \nFederal SNAP law provides two basic pathways for financial eligibility to the program: (1) meeting program-specific federal eligibility requirements; or (2) being automatically or \u201ccategorically\u201d eligible for SNAP based on being eligible for or receiving benefits from other specified low-income assistance programs. Categorical eligibility eliminated the requirement that households who already met financial eligibility rules in one specified low-income program go through another financial eligibility determination in SNAP. \nIn its traditional form, categorical eligibility conveys SNAP eligibility based on household receipt of cash assistance from Supplemental Security Income (SSI), the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant, or state-run General Assistance (GA) programs. However, since the 1996 welfare reform law, states have been able to expand categorical eligibility beyond its traditional bounds. That law created TANF to replace the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program, which was a traditional cash assistance program. TANF is a broad-purpose block grant that finances a wide range of social and human services. TANF gives states flexibility in meeting its goals, resulting in a wide variation of benefits and services offered among the states. SNAP allows states to convey categorical eligibility based on receipt of a TANF \u201cbenefit,\u201d not just TANF cash welfare. This provides states with the ability to convey categorical eligibility based on a wide range of benefits and services. TANF benefits other than cash assistance typically are available to a broader range of households and at higher levels of income than are TANF cash assistance benefits.\nAs of October 2018, 43 jurisdictions have implemented what the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has called \u201cbroad-based\u201d categorical eligibility. These jurisdictions generally make all households with incomes below a state-determined income threshold eligible for SNAP. States do this by providing households with a low-cost TANF-funded benefit or service such as a brochure or referral to a telephone hotline. There are varying income eligibility thresholds within states that convey \u201cbroad-based\u201d categorical eligibility, though no state has a gross income limit above 200% of the federal poverty guidelines. In all but six of these jurisdictions, there is no asset test required for SNAP eligibility. Categorically eligible families bypass the regular SNAP asset limits. However, their net incomes (income after deductions for expenses) must still be low enough to qualify for a SNAP benefit. That is, it is possible to be categorically eligible for SNAP but have net income too high to actually receive a benefit. The exception to this is one- or two-person households that would still receive the minimum benefit.\nNeither the Agriculture Act of 2014 (\u201c2014 Farm Bill,\u201d P.L. 113-79) nor the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (\u201c2018 Farm Bill,\u201d P.L. 115-334) made changes to SNAP categorical eligibility rules. In the 113th Congress, the House-passed version of the 2014 law would have eliminated broad-based categorical eligibility, but that change was not included in the conference agreement. In the 115th Congress, the House-passed version of the 2018 law would have made changes to limit but not eliminate broad-based categorical eligibility; these changes were not included in the conference agreement. \nIn the Fall 2018 Unified Agenda, the Trump Administration included plans to publish a proposed rule that would amend SNAP categorical eligibility rules. As of the date this report, this proposed rule has not yet been published.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/R42054", "sha1": "07e841936e5871d114a629e5b30de4d434ecbea7", "filename": "files/20190104_R42054_07e841936e5871d114a629e5b30de4d434ecbea7.html", "images": { "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R42054_files&id=/0.png": "files/20190104_R42054_images_38438e3ba85bc8c32e8f9923a08104269ce0138c.png" } }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R42054", "sha1": "c8937e524f32328fde46ffbef85200bd226e9142", "filename": "files/20190104_R42054_c8937e524f32328fde46ffbef85200bd226e9142.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4856, "name": "Nutrition Programs & Policies" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 582272, "date": "2018-06-22", "retrieved": "2018-06-27T13:27:08.413268", "title": "The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP): Categorical Eligibility", "summary": "The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides benefits to low-income, eligible households on an electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card; benefits can then be exchanged for foods at authorized retailers. SNAP reaches a large share of low-income households. In FY2017, a monthly average of 42.2 million persons in 20.9 million households participated in SNAP. \nFederal SNAP law provides two basic pathways for financial eligibility to the program: (1) meeting program-specific federal eligibility requirements; or (2) being automatically or \u201ccategorically\u201d eligible for SNAP based on being eligible for or receiving benefits from other specified low-income assistance programs. Categorical eligibility eliminated the requirement that households who already met financial eligibility rules in one specified low-income program go through another financial eligibility determination in SNAP. \nIn its traditional form, categorical eligibility conveys SNAP eligibility based on household receipt of cash assistance from Supplemental Security Income (SSI), the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant, or state-run General Assistance (GA) programs. However, since the 1996 welfare reform law, states have been able to expand categorical eligibility beyond its traditional bounds. That law created TANF to replace the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program, which was a traditional cash assistance program. TANF is a broad-purpose block grant that finances a wide range of social and human services. TANF gives states flexibility in meeting its goals, resulting in a wide variation of benefits and services offered among the states. SNAP allows states to convey categorical eligibility based on receipt of a TANF \u201cbenefit,\u201d not just TANF cash welfare. This provides states with the ability to convey categorical eligibility based on a wide range of benefits and services. TANF benefits other than cash assistance typically are available to a broader range of households and at higher levels of income than are TANF cash assistance benefits.\nAs of February 2018, 42 jurisdictions have implemented what the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has called \u201cbroad-based\u201d categorical eligibility. These jurisdictions generally make all households with incomes below a state-determined income threshold eligible for SNAP. States do this by providing households with a low-cost TANF-funded benefit or service such as a brochure or referral to a telephone hotline. There are varying income eligibility thresholds within states that convey \u201cbroad-based\u201d categorical eligibility, though no state has a gross income limit above 200% of the federal poverty guidelines. In all but five of these jurisdictions, there is no asset test required for SNAP eligibility. Categorically eligible families bypass the regular SNAP asset limits. However, their net incomes (income after deductions for expenses) must still be low enough to qualify for a SNAP benefit. That is, it is possible to be categorically eligible for SNAP but have net income too high to actually receive a benefit. The exception to this is one- or two-person households that would still receive the minimum benefit.\nThe Agriculture Act of 2014 (the \u201c2014 Farm Bill,\u201d P.L. 113-79) made no changes to SNAP categorical eligibility rules. The House-passed version of the bill that became the 2014 Farm Bill would have eliminated broad-based categorical eligibility, but that change was not included in the conference agreement on the bill. \nIn the 115th Congress\u2019s work toward the next farm bill, the House-passed Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018 (H.R. 2) would make changes to limit but not eliminate broad-based categorical eligibility. The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (S. 3042), as reported by the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, would not make any changes to categorical eligibility.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R42054", "sha1": "71976237f8f13c293ded400eec3b8fcd1ba81880", "filename": "files/20180622_R42054_71976237f8f13c293ded400eec3b8fcd1ba81880.html", "images": { "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R42054_files&id=/0.png": "files/20180622_R42054_images_96a522a3a457b7744e4a6f31db432347c71fd5a4.png" } }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R42054", "sha1": "ec3bef16273a8b7c81bc46eb1f5d060c34d07061", "filename": "files/20180622_R42054_ec3bef16273a8b7c81bc46eb1f5d060c34d07061.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4856, "name": "Nutrition Programs & Policies" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 580763, "date": "2018-05-01", "retrieved": "2018-05-10T10:11:12.038697", "title": "The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP): Categorical Eligibility", "summary": "The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides benefits to low-income, eligible households on an electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card; benefits can then be exchanged for foods at authorized retailers. SNAP reaches a large share of low-income households. In FY2017, a monthly average of 42.2 million persons in 20.9 million households participated in SNAP. \nFederal SNAP law provides two basic pathways for financial eligibility to the program: (1) meeting program-specific federal eligibility requirements; or (2) being automatically or \u201ccategorically\u201d eligible for SNAP based on being eligible for or receiving benefits from other specified low-income assistance programs. Categorical eligibility eliminated the requirement that households who already met financial eligibility rules in one specified low-income program go through another financial eligibility determination in SNAP. \nIn its traditional form, categorical eligibility conveys SNAP eligibility based on household receipt of cash assistance from Supplemental Security Income (SSI), the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant, or state-run General Assistance (GA) programs. However, since the 1996 welfare reform law, states have been able to expand categorical eligibility beyond its traditional bounds. That law created TANF to replace the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program, which was a traditional cash assistance program. TANF is a broad-purpose block grant that finances a wide range of social and human services. TANF gives states flexibility in meeting its goals, resulting in a wide variation of benefits and services offered among the states. SNAP allows states to convey categorical eligibility based on receipt of a TANF \u201cbenefit,\u201d not just TANF cash welfare. This provides states with the ability to convey categorical eligibility based on a wide range of benefits and services. TANF benefits other than cash assistance typically are available to a broader range of households and at higher levels of income than are TANF cash assistance benefits.\nAs of February 2018, 42 jurisdictions have implemented what the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has called \u201cbroad-based\u201d categorical eligibility. These jurisdictions generally make all households with incomes below a state-determined income threshold eligible for SNAP. States do this by providing households with a low-cost TANF-funded benefit or service such as a brochure or referral to a telephone hotline. There are varying income eligibility thresholds within states that convey \u201cbroad-based\u201d categorical eligibility, though no state has a gross income limit above 200% of the federal poverty guidelines. In all but five of these jurisdictions, there is no asset test required for SNAP eligibility. Categorically eligible families bypass the regular SNAP asset limits. However, their net incomes (income after deductions for expenses) must still be low enough to qualify for a SNAP benefit. That is, it is possible to be categorically eligible for SNAP but have net income too high to actually receive a benefit. The exception to this is one- or two-person households that would still receive the minimum benefit.\nThe Agriculture Act of 2014 (the \u201c2014 Farm Bill,\u201d P.L. 113-79) made no changes to SNAP categorical eligibility rules. The House-passed version of the bill that became the 2014 Farm Bill would have eliminated broad-based categorical eligibility, but that change was not included in the conference agreement on the bill. \nIn the 115th Congress\u2019s work toward the next farm bill, the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018 (H.R. 2), voted out of the House Committee on Agriculture, would make changes to limit but not eliminate broad-based categorical eligibility.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R42054", "sha1": "a522e26f0437a6cf990534302597de0d7c64adbd", "filename": "files/20180501_R42054_a522e26f0437a6cf990534302597de0d7c64adbd.html", "images": { "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R42054_files&id=/0.png": "files/20180501_R42054_images_96a522a3a457b7744e4a6f31db432347c71fd5a4.png" } }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R42054", "sha1": "b1b15ddb46cd80af48a821734f3f596883b1fc04", "filename": "files/20180501_R42054_b1b15ddb46cd80af48a821734f3f596883b1fc04.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4856, "name": "Nutrition Programs & Policies" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 458534, "date": "2017-01-25", "retrieved": "2017-02-03T19:12:29.728703", "title": "The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP): Categorical Eligibility", "summary": "The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides benefits to low-income, eligible households on an electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card; benefits can then be exchanged for foods at authorized retailers. SNAP reaches a large share of low-income households. In FY2016, a monthly average of 44.2 million persons in 21.8 million households participated in SNAP. \nFederal SNAP law provides two basic pathways for financial eligibility to the program: (1) meeting program-specific federal eligibility requirements; or (2) being automatically or \u201ccategorically\u201d eligible for SNAP based on being eligible for or receiving benefits from other specified low-income assistance programs. Categorical eligibility eliminated the requirement that households who already met financial eligibility rules in one specified low-income program go through another financial eligibility determination in SNAP. \nIn its traditional form, categorical eligibility conveys SNAP eligibility based on household receipt of cash assistance from Supplemental Security Income (SSI), the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant, or state-run General Assistance (GA) programs. However, since the 1996 welfare reform law, states have been able to expand categorical eligibility beyond its traditional bounds. That law created TANF to replace the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program, which was a traditional cash assistance program. TANF is a broad-purpose block grant that finances a wide range of social and human services. TANF gives states flexibility in meeting its goals, resulting in a wide variation of benefits and services offered among the states. SNAP allows states to convey categorical eligibility based on receipt of a TANF \u201cbenefit,\u201d not just TANF cash welfare. This provides states with the ability to convey categorical eligibility based on a wide range of benefits and services. TANF benefits other than cash assistance typically are available to a broader range of households and at higher levels of income than are TANF cash assistance benefits.\nAs of August 2016, 42 jurisdictions have implemented what the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has called \u201cbroad-based\u201d categorical eligibility. These jurisdictions generally make all households with incomes below a state-determined income threshold eligible for SNAP. States do this by providing households with a low-cost TANF-funded benefit or service such as a brochure or referral to a telephone hotline. There are varying income eligibility thresholds within states that convey \u201cbroad-based\u201d categorical eligibility, though no state has a gross income limit above 200% of the federal poverty guidelines. In all but five of these jurisdictions, there is no asset test required for SNAP eligibility. Categorically eligible families bypass the regular SNAP asset limits. However, their net incomes (income after deductions for expenses) must still be low enough to qualify for a SNAP benefit. That is, it is possible to be categorically eligible for SNAP but have net income too high to actually receive a benefit. The exception to this is one- or two-person households that would still receive the minimum benefit.\nThe Agriculture Act of 2014 (the \u201c2014 Farm Bill,\u201d P.L. 113-79) made no changes to SNAP categorical eligibility rules. The House-passed version of the bill that became the 2014 Farm Bill would have eliminated broad-based categorical eligibility, but that change was not included in the conference agreement on the bill.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R42054", "sha1": "83400188d5215bce3b2cf0853a3418b30c9ca752", "filename": "files/20170125_R42054_83400188d5215bce3b2cf0853a3418b30c9ca752.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R42054", "sha1": "e9c2cb2fbd4a7bdda0244916b93b16d734590ba9", "filename": "files/20170125_R42054_e9c2cb2fbd4a7bdda0244916b93b16d734590ba9.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4856, "name": "Nutrition Programs & Policies" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 449376, "date": "2016-02-02", "retrieved": "2016-04-06T17:19:32.284078", "title": "The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP): Categorical Eligibility", "summary": "The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides benefits to low-income, eligible households on an electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card; benefits can then be exchanged for foods at authorized retailers. SNAP reaches a large share of low-income households. In FY2015, a monthly average of 45.8 million persons in 22.4 million households participated in SNAP. \nFederal SNAP law provides two basic pathways for financial eligibility to the program: (1) meeting program-specific federal eligibility requirements; or (2) being automatically or \u201ccategorically\u201d eligible for SNAP based on being eligible for or receiving benefits from other specified low-income assistance programs. Categorical eligibility eliminated the requirement that households who already met financial eligibility rules in one specified low-income program go through another financial eligibility determination in SNAP. \nIn its traditional form, categorical eligibility conveys SNAP eligibility based on household receipt of cash assistance from Supplemental Security Income (SSI), the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant, or state-run General Assistance (GA) programs. However, since the 1996 welfare reform law, states have been able to expand categorical eligibility beyond its traditional bounds. That law created TANF to replace the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program, which was a traditional cash assistance program. TANF is a broad-purpose block grant that finances a wide range of social and human services. TANF gives states flexibility in meeting its goals, resulting in a wide variation of benefits and services offered among the states. SNAP allows states to convey categorical eligibility based on receipt of a TANF \u201cbenefit,\u201d not just TANF cash welfare. This provides states with the ability to convey categorical eligibility based on a wide range of benefits and services. TANF benefits other than cash assistance typically are available to a broader range of households and at higher levels of income than are TANF cash assistance benefits.\nAs of December 2014, 42 jurisdictions have implemented what the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has called \u201cbroad-based\u201d categorical eligibility. These jurisdictions generally make all households with incomes below a state-determined income threshold eligible for SNAP. States do this by providing households with a low-cost TANF-funded benefit or service such as a brochure or referral to an \u201c800\u201d number telephone hotline. There are varying income eligibility thresholds within states that convey \u201cbroad-based\u201d categorical eligibility, though no state has a gross income limit above 200% of the federal poverty guidelines. In all but five of these jurisdictions, there is no asset test required for SNAP eligibility. Categorically eligible families bypass the regular SNAP asset limits. However, their net incomes (income after deductions for expenses) must still be low enough to qualify for a SNAP benefit. That is, it is possible to be categorically eligible for SNAP but have net income too high to actually receive a benefit. The exception to this is one- or two-person households that would still receive the minimum benefit.\nThe Agriculture Act of 2014 (the \u201c2014 Farm Bill,\u201d P.L. 113-79) made no changes to SNAP categorical eligibility rules. The House-passed version of the bill that became the 2014 Farm Bill would have eliminated broad-based categorical eligibility, but that change was not included in the conference agreement on the bill.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R42054", "sha1": "a29aa6182327d62f413fc7f19a2d3699ed5f6412", "filename": "files/20160202_R42054_a29aa6182327d62f413fc7f19a2d3699ed5f6412.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R42054", "sha1": "82b4645c84e4ef7c2ee3a13eeb12e422bf1c622e", "filename": "files/20160202_R42054_82b4645c84e4ef7c2ee3a13eeb12e422bf1c622e.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 641, "name": "Farm Bill and Agricultural Policy" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc812207/", "id": "R42054_2014Dec22", "date": "2014-12-22", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP): Categorical Eligibility", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20141222_R42054_ddf53be7cb68a783c84b3c9d3cb47fa1ee2ff0b1.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20141222_R42054_ddf53be7cb68a783c84b3c9d3cb47fa1ee2ff0b1.html" } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc462282/", "id": "R42054_2014Jul22", "date": "2014-07-22", "retrieved": "2014-12-05T09:57:41", "title": "The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP): Categorical Eligibility", "summary": "This report discusses categorical eligibility and some of the issues raised by it. It first describes the three different types of categorical eligibility: traditional categorical eligibility conveyed through receipt of need-based cash assistance, and the newer \"narrow\" and \"broad-based\" categorical eligibilities conveyed via TANF \"noncash\" benefits. It also provides recent information on current state practices with regard to categorical eligibility. Finally, the report discusses proposals to restrict categorical eligibility.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20140722_R42054_0a6103b81d72f3a33a3481a96e08df5a39147c99.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20140722_R42054_0a6103b81d72f3a33a3481a96e08df5a39147c99.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Nutrition policy", "name": "Nutrition policy" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Nutrition and state", "name": "Nutrition and state" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Supplemental security income program", "name": "Supplemental security income program" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc463303/", "id": "R42054_2013Dec31", "date": "2013-12-31", "retrieved": "2014-12-05T09:57:41", "title": "The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP): Categorical Eligibility", "summary": "This report discusses categorical eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and some of the issues raised by it. It first describes the three different types of categorical eligibility. It then provides recent information on current state practices with regard to categorical eligibility. Finally, the report discusses proposals to restrict categorical eligibility.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20131231_R42054_1a3b2ab7d31cc620cde783dca9261bb54fa6dfd0.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20131231_R42054_1a3b2ab7d31cc620cde783dca9261bb54fa6dfd0.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Nutrition policy", "name": "Nutrition policy" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Nutrition and state", "name": "Nutrition and state" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Supplemental security income program", "name": "Supplemental security income program" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc227734/", "id": "R42054_2013Sep17", "date": "2013-09-17", "retrieved": "2013-11-05T18:07:05", "title": "The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Categorical Eligibility", "summary": "This report discusses categorical eligibility and some of the issues raised by it. It first describes the three different types of categorical eligibility: traditional categorical eligibility conveyed through receipt of need-based cash assistance, and the newer \"narrow\" and \"broad-based\" categorical eligibilities conveyed via TANF \"noncash\" benefits. It also provides recent information on current state practices with regard to categorical eligibility. Finally, the report discusses proposals to restrict categorical eligibility.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20130917_R42054_7ef07664b4a7bf922c26a92dfecc5147f4d7f70b.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20130917_R42054_7ef07664b4a7bf922c26a92dfecc5147f4d7f70b.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Nutrition policy", "name": "Nutrition policy" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Nutrition and state", "name": "Nutrition and state" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Food", "name": "Food" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc807335/", "id": "R42054_2012Mar02", "date": "2012-03-02", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Categorical Eligibility", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20120302_R42054_a8d2ac787c2b07947808bbae0d0209af3c3715f7.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20120302_R42054_a8d2ac787c2b07947808bbae0d0209af3c3715f7.html" } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc813187/", "id": "R42054_2011Oct21", "date": "2011-10-21", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Categorical Eligibility", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20111021_R42054_74031ad294f0ff05236bfba49aed1a6857e514d7.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20111021_R42054_74031ad294f0ff05236bfba49aed1a6857e514d7.html" } ], "topics": [] } ], "topics": [ "Domestic Social Policy", "Health Policy" ] }