Ellen is the Legal Director at Food Research and Action Center.
We don’t think it’s appropriate to connect a basic human right like food with this work documenting requirement, but it also doesn’t make sense in our labor market. If they’re having trouble getting sufficient hours of work, we know that’s not something that gets cured by taking food away from them. That has more to do with the state of the labor market, with jobs policies, perhaps with skills training.
The debt limit deal passed in Congress changes the work requirements for some adults receiving federal food assistance.