ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
[First Reprint]
ASSEMBLY, No. 2360
with committee amendments
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: May 19, 2022
The Assembly Appropriations Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Assembly Bill No. 2360 (1R).
As amended, this bill provides that participation in the New Jersey Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (NJ SNAP) Employment and Training Program (ETP) is voluntary. Under an all-voluntary program, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients choose whether or not to participate in the ETP, with no adverse consequences for participants’ SNAP benefits. This provision ensures that additional food insecure households in New Jersey maintain eligibility for SNAP benefits, and maximizes federal dollars available through the SNAP ETP. SNAP, which is funded by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) in the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), but is administered by the states, is a nutrition assistance program for low-income households.
Under the bill, both the Department of Human Services (department) and a county welfare agency are prohibited from requiring a SNAP recipient to participate in a NJ SNAP ETP activity or a NJ SNAP ETP Provider 50/50 Match Project in order to be deemed eligible for SNAP benefits. The bill additionally prohibits SNAP disqualification solely due to a SNAP recipient’s nonparticipation in a SNAP ETP activity. The bill, however, explicitly states that the authority of the department or a county welfare agency to impose penalties for noncompliance with federal SNAP work requirements will not be restricted.
As defined under the bill, the “NJ SNAP ETP” means the New Jersey Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Employment and Training Program, through which SNAP recipients acquire the skills, training, work, or experience necessary to obtain regular employment, as established under the SNAP and as described in the most recent State Employment and Training Plan submitted to the FNS. The NJ SNAP ETP 50/50 Match Project, established pursuant to P.L.2013, c.45 (C.44:10-95 et seq.), is an optional program within the NJ SNAP ETP in which the State receives reimbursement grants from the federal government to fund third-party contractors who provide eligible employment and training services to program participants. In order to comply with the bill’s provisions establishing a voluntary NJ SNAP ETP, the bill also amends the existing law governing the NJ SNAP ETP 50/50 Match Project.
The bill directs the department and each county welfare agency to ensure that all recipients of benefits under SNAP are provided with the opportunity to participate in employment and training activities consistent with federal SNAP ETP reimbursement requirements. The department, additionally, is required to submit any necessary revisions to the State Employment and Training Plan to the FNS in order to satisfy the provisions of the bill.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:
The committee amendments remove the provision of the bill that would require:
· the Commissioner of Human Services (commissioner) to annually request a federal waiver of the SNAP benefit time limit for able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWD) for the maximum number of geographic areas in the State which are eligible for such a waiver; and
· the Governor to support and direct the commissioner to submit a waiver request for those geographic areas in the State that represent the highest number of SNAP participants eligible for a waiver of the ABAWD time limit on SNAP benefits.
· The committee amendments revise the effective date of the bill to reflect this change. The committee amendments also update the title and synopsis.
FISCAL IMPACT:
This bill is not certified as requiring a fiscal note.