New York City and state joined forces Thursday on a lawsuit to stop the Trump administration from enacting a rule change that could bounce nearly 700,000 people off the food stamp rolls by tightening work requirements.
Just before Christmas last month, President Trump enacted new guidelines designed to limit access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
The new rule, which impacts able-bodied adults between the ages of 18 and 49 without dependents, will make it harder for states to waive a requirement that they work at least 20 hours a week or else lose their benefits.
But critics blasted the move as an assault on the poor, saying many jobs in today’s economy still don’t put enough food on the table.
“The federal government’s latest assault on vulnerable individuals is cruel to its core,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. “Denying access to vital SNAP benefits would only push hundreds of thousands of already vulnerable Americans into greater economic uncertainty. In so doing, states will have to grapple with rising healthcare and homelessness costs that will result from this shortsighted and ill-conceived policy.”
The new guidelines could cut off as many as 50,000 food stamp recipients in the five boroughs and cost New York City’s economy more than $100 million.
“In the world’s wealthiest country, no New Yorker should be forced to choose between putting food on the table and filling a prescription,” Mayor de Blasio said in a statement. “Denying food assistance to the thousands of New Yorkers who rely on these programs every day is a targeted attack against our most vulnerable — and it’s one we will not stand for.”
A U.S. Justice Department spokeswoman, Kristina Mastropasqua, declined to comment on the lawsuit.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia along with a motion to enjoin the rule from going into effect April 1.
