Fayetteville, Arkansas – Both parties in the Arkansas legislature concur on raising the state’s asset limit for food stamps. If Senate Bill 306 is passed into law, both parties agree that more stomachs must be filled and more tables must be set. The asset restrictions for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, often known as food stamps, are the subject of Senate Bill 306.
“This bill is designed to let low-income Arkansans build their way out of poverty,” State Sen. Clarke Tucker said.
The Department of Human Services will request a waiver from the federal government to raise the existing asset limit to $5,500, according to Tucker, a Democrat, if the bill is passed into law.
“If they save more than that $2,250, all of a sudden they lose their SNAP eligibility and they can’t feed their kids and so that’s some other drivers behind this policy,” Tucker said.
The plan, according to Republican State Senator Justin Boyd, also offers low-income families aid for the present and the future, enabling them to save money in addition to having food to eat.
“It would allow people who are working on food stamps to save up to $5,500 and there would be a year time to do that,” Boyd said.
Boyd adds that since the legislation supports Arkansas values, he was not surprised that it received support from both parties.
“We do have our issues where they’re partisan in nature, but so much what we really do is what brings Arkansas together,” Boyd said.
While there is still more to be done, according to Tucker, this is a step in the right direction in the fight against poverty.
“We need to let poor people build and work their way out of poverty and the policy that we have in place right now is not giving them a chance to do that,” Tucker said.