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On Friday, the state Legislature approved a bill that could potentially simplify the process for low-income Texans to qualify for food stamps.
The federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program offers food assistance to low-income residents. Eligibility for SNAP is based on income, household size and citizenship status. But in Texas, families can be disqualified based on how much their vehicles are worth.
The current limits in Texas restrict the highest value of a vehicle to $15,000 for the first one and $4,650 for any additional vehicles. These limits have remained unchanged since 2001 for the main car and since 1974 for extra cars. Supporters argue that the existing restrictions are putting families in a difficult position, where they must decide between having a dependable vehicle and providing food for their loved ones.
House Bill 1287 would make a one-time inflationary update to the maximum value of a vehicle a household can own before they’re disqualified from receiving food stamps. If the bill became law, families could qualify if their first vehicle was valued at $22,500 and if any additional vehicles were valued at $8,700.
“I really view this as not a handout but a hand up. … What we want people to do is to grow out of dependence on the government. You have to have transportation to do that,” said state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, a Brenham Republican and the chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. “You have to have the ability to get to the job.”
The implementation of the bill will not result in any additional costs for the state since SNAP is a federally funded program.
After the Senate approved the bill in a 27-4 vote on Wednesday, the House approved Senate changes to the bill on Friday. HB 1287 will now head to Gov. Greg Abbott. A gubernatorial spokesperson did not immediately respond to an inquiry about whether Abbott supports HB 1287.
HB 1287 cruised through the Legislature with bipartisan support, getting unanimous votes from House and Senate committees. The bill was authored by Republican state Rep. Ryan Guillen of Rio Grande City and sponsored by Democratic state Sen. César J. Blanco of El Paso. In the Senate, five Republicans signed on as co-sponsors to the bill.
More than 11,000 Texas households were denied SNAP because of the value of their vehicles in 2019, according to a Feeding Texas report. In 2022, 54,740 households were denied because of their vehicles, nearly five times as many denials despite little change in the total number of SNAP participants.
According to Cox Automotive, the cost of food, utilities, and vehicles has been significantly impacted by inflation. Specifically, there has been a notable surge of 28% in the price of used vehicles from March 2021 to March 2022.
According to Celia Cole, the CEO of Feeding Texas, numerous families were deprived of their SNAP benefits during recertification due to the increased value of their vehicles caused by inflation.
According to Cole, the rising prices in the used car market are leading to a situation where individuals with extremely limited income, already facing difficulties in affording basic necessities, are being deprived of access to SNAP. Cole emphasizes that no family should have to suffer from inflation and the car market, jeopardizing their ability to provide food for themselves.
HB 1287 also impacts grandparents raising grandchildren who are struggling to make ends meet, but who also need a vehicle to get their grandchildren to school.
During the House committee testimony, Valerie Hawthorne from the North Texas Food Bank expressed concerns about the growing impact of the Texas rule. She highlighted how it is now impeding Texan families from qualifying for food benefits, putting additional pressure on the emergency food network, and exacerbating hunger across all counties in Texas.
Disclosure: Feeding Texas has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
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