Last Friday, the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) closed the extended public comment period for their proposal to reform broad-based categorical eligibility for food stamps. The proposal would close a loophole that allowed thousands of Americans who did not qualify for food stamps to be eligible for benefits regardless.

Sharpel Welch is a 2019 Civil Society Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, and a community coordinator at Community Renewal International, a faith-based nonprofit in Shreveport. She has published a revealing article on growing up in racism, abject poverty, her escape, and her return to help her community.

FreedomWorks is proud to announce that our bill of the month for December 2018 is the JOBS Act, S. 3692, sponsored by Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.). The bill would reauthorize the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program while instituting much-needed reforms and accountability measures, which will help lift vulnerable Americans out of poverty and into sustainable, well-paying jobs.

FreedomWorks is proud to announce that our bill of the month for May 2018 is the Welfare Reform and Upward Mobility Act, H.R. 2832 and S. 1290, introduced by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) in the House and by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) in the Senate.

The House and Senate are in session this week.

On April 10, 2018, President Donald J. Trump signed the Executive Order on Economic Mobility. President Trump’s plan outlines nine “principles of economic mobility” that are bound to lift struggling Americans towards self-sufficiency. Among these principles are boosting employment, promoting stable families, and choosing federalism over top-down programs.

Congress created the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to reduce food insecurity among impoverished Americans. At the same time, Congress recognized that welfare programs must foster self-sufficiency. The Trump administration is looking for innovative solutions that improve both goals.

The White House unveiled its FY 2019 budget request this morning. Although it's incredibly unlikely that the budget request will become law, it does provide a window into the policy priorities of the Trump administration. Of course, the passage of the Bipartisan Budget Act, H.R. 1892, set the discretionary spending level for FY 2019 at $1.321 trillion -- $716 billion for defense discretionary and $605 billion nondefense discretionary. This level of spending is $153 billion higher than the pre-Bipartisan Budget Act spending caps.