WASHINGTON – Congressman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) has introduced H.R. 2832, the Welfare Reform and Upward Mobility Act of 2017, a bill to reform the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The bill, sponsored in the Senate by Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah), is modeled off of successful reforms implemented in Maine and the welfare reforms of 1996.

Of the legislation, Rep. Jordan said:

“Welfare programs should serve as a temporary safety net, but for millions of Americans they have become a permanent way of life. Instead of giving impoverished families and individuals a helping hand, the current welfare system penalizes positive steps toward self-sufficiency. It’s time for this to change. I’m honored to work with Senator Mike Lee to improve the welfare system, so that it helps our fellow Americans realize their goals and potential.”

Among other things, the bill would:

– Improve reporting of means-tested welfare spending

– Create state-run work activation programs to help SNAP recipients find work through vocational education, job training and job search assistance

– Focus on able-bodied adults without dependents, by reinforcing a 100-hour per month work activation program to help SNAP recipients rise out of poverty

– Modify Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) to fix existing provisions that penalize marriage, reinforcing the family as a primary way to combat poverty

Sen. Lee co-authored an op-ed with Rep. Jordan about the bill that was recently published by the Washington Examiner. To read the op-ed, click here: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/mike-lee-and-jim-jordan-make-work-and-marriage-great-again/article/2624062

To read H.R. 2832, click here: https://jordan.house.gov/UploadedFiles/Jordan.WRUMA.115th.pdf