Scrap the asset test bill in the Iowa Legislature

Republicans who control the Iowa Legislature are considering a bill that would require Iowans receiving benefits through the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, more commonly known as food assistance, to pass an asset test to remain eligible. Iowa currently requires recipients to meet an income threshold but does not restrict assets.

Under the bill, HSB 508, a household with more than $2,000 in the bank could lose benefits. A family with a second vehicle worth more than $4,650 could be denied food assistance, among other personal property and assets that could be counted against recipients.

Forget saving money for emergencies. Forget having dependable vehicles if more than one adult in a household is working or needs transportation. Forget the fact that many SNAP recipients are children or elderly people. More than half of recipients are younger than 18 and older than 59.

In short, lawmakers should forget about this bill.

The bill is among several similar measures putting new limits, restrictions and hurdles in front of struggling Iowans trying to keep food on the table. And like so many bad ideas at the Statehouse, they’re being pushed by an outside conservative group.

At a subcommittee meeting on the bill this week, the Florida-based Opportunity Solutions Project argued adopting an asset test would kick 60,000 Iowans off food assistance. In the group’s book, that’s a victory. It’s been pushing for similar bills across the county while seeking to cut other holes in the social safety net by fighting Medicaid expansion and other measures.

A representative of OSP told lawmakers of a retired Minnesota millionaire who passed the income test in that state and was declared eligible for SNAP. Cheap gimmicks aside, the group argues changes would save money and push people back to work. Although it would save federal dollars, the state likely would end up spending more to administer new restrictions and monitoring.

And taking food away from families as an incentive to work does not sound like an Iowa idea.

At the meeting, a representative of the American Heart Association worried how asset hurdles would hurt recipients with health problems and children who need nutritious food. The AARP opposes the bill due to its potential impact on low-income seniors who might lose assistance due to “a bingo win.” Others expressed concerns about how limits would harm already economically stressed households, many with adults working for low wages, and return them to poverty.

Iowa’s SNAP numbers already are shrinking. In June, 284,000 Iowans were receiving help, down from 308,000 in June 2020. And no millionaires that we know of.

These bills are misguided, cruel and unneeded. And hunger is not a workforce development strategy.

(319) 398-8262; editorial@thegazette.com