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KUNC is among the founding partners of the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration of public media stations that serve the Western states of Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.

Proposed Farm Bill Would Increase Work Requirements For SNAP Recipients

Julia Ritchey / KUER

The House of Representatives passed its newest version of the farm bill this week. It includes stricter work requirements for people who get food stamps.

The federal SNAP program, also known as food stamps, makes up the majority of spending in the farm bill.

The new bill includes stricter work requirements for SNAP recipients. Gina Cornia is with the group . She said those new rules include making older people meet work requirements for another ten years until they’re 59. Recipients must also follow stricter and more frequent reporting for the hours they work.

"There are better uses of people’s time, there’s better use of the state’s time, than to check a box off to make sure that they’ve met this arbitrary rule," Cornia said. 

Ken Hamilton is with the . He hasn’t been following the new rules on food stamps but said that overall he’s happy with the proposed legislation and how it supports farmers.

"I guess you might call it a safety net if you should have crop conditions turn out badly some of the insurance programs help," Hamilton said. 

The proposal passed narrowly in the House of Representatives. Next, a compromise bill must be created with the Senate.

This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, Yellowstone Public Radio in Montana, KUER in Salt Lake City and KRCC and KUNC in Colorado. 

Copyright 2020 KUER 90.1. To see more, visit .

Erik Neumann is a radio producer and writer. A native of the Pacific Northwest, his work has appeared on public radio stations and in magazines along the West Coast. He received his Bachelor's Degree in geography from the University of Washington and a Master's in Journalism from UC Berkeley. Besides working at KUER, he enjoys being outside in just about every way possible.