Earlier this week, news media spun the improved fortunes of millions of American families and thousands of Floridians into a negative hit piece on the Trump administration. Like well instructed lemmings the news headline “Nearly 200,000 Florida students could lose free school lunch under rule changes” was regurgitated across the state.
To me, one of the greatest American success stories is that of families in existing poverty, no longer needing the safety nets afforded by the generosity of other Americans who’re more fortunate. Government assistance programs, like SNAP, are designed to be safety nets for those truly in need until people can provide for themselves. Thankfully, in the greatest economy in American history, hundreds of thousands of Floridians and millions of Americans have improved their quality of life to the point to which they no longer qualify for certain federal assistance programs. To me, this calls for a celebration. To the American left, I’ll refer you back to their headline.
During the Great Recession, federal regulations were relaxed on government assistance programs. One of those relaxed rules kicked federal assistance oversight to state agencies in an effort to onboard as many Americans as possible. During that time several states had agencies that aggressively applied new standards to qualify as many families as possible. Florida’s Department of Child and Family Services was among the most aggressive in the country. The result was the addition of millions of families to government programs that technically shouldn’t have been eligible in the first place. In Florida, families with income that’s two times the poverty level still receive these benefits. In June, the Trump administration announced that they enforced the true income of households to determine eligibility. With the new rule, an estimated 328,000 families will see SNAP eligibility end. This includes fully subsidized lunch for the estimated 200,000 school children.
Prior to this change taking place 262,903 Florida families had already dropped off of SNAP assistance in 2019 because of improved income. This is something that should be celebrated, not politicized. There’s nothing wrong about going back to pre-Great Recession enforcement of government assistance programs at a time with record low unemployment, record-high wages and opportunity. I believe attempting to keep capable people reliant on government programs due to one’s political agenda is what's actually wrong.
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