Press Releases

WASHINGTON—As part of his efforts to reform entitlement programs, increase economic opportunity for all Americans and address growing workforce demands, Congressman Ron Estes (KS-4) has introduced H.R. 5489, the federal Hope Opportunity and Prosperity for Everyone (HOPE) Act. The bill has been referred to the House Ways and Means and Agriculture Committees.

“This legislation mirrors landmark welfare reform legislation passed in the state of Kansas that has been very effective in helping Kansans work their way out of poverty and build a better life for their families,” said Rep. Estes. “By strengthening work requirements for individuals to receive benefits, reducing fraud, and ensuring assistance dollars can go toward successful workforce development programs, this bill will reform our entitlement programs, support those in need and help people get jobs.”

The HOPE Act builds on several provisions included in the 2018 Farm Bill which was introduced yesterday. Similar to the Farm Bill, the HOPE Act mandates work requirements for able-bodied adults with dependents to receive Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. The HOPE Act also includes work requirements to receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and is modeled off of successful reforms in Kansas. Also included in the Farm Bill and HOPE Act is a requirement for mandatory cooperation with child support agencies to receive benefits. In Kansas, after reviewing six months of payment history, the households that had originally not cooperated received an increase of almost 39 percent in child support—a total of $664,509.

Rep. Estes applauded the inclusion of these priorities in the Farm Bill.

Additional highlights of the HOPE Act include:

• Eliminating Broad Based Categorical Eligibility (BBCE) which allowed for individuals who qualify for TANF programs to systematically be eligible to receive benefits from other programs such as SNAP. The 2018 Farm Bill would only reform how BBCE operates. Eliminating automatic eligibility and requiring individuals and families qualify for these programs separately makes fraudulent instances more difficult to achieve.

• Ensuring that the Jobs for Americas Graduates (JAG) program is eligible for TANF funding. The national JAG program is dedicated to helping “at-risk” students graduate from high school and get on a successful career path. JAG has served more than 1.1 million students and has a high school graduation rate of over 90 percent nationally. Last year in Kansas, JAG had a 97 percent graduation rate and is currently serving 3,100 students.

• Minimizing the lifetime assistance limit to 36 months, down from 60 months. Following a reduced time limit being implemented in Kansas, the incomes of participants more than doubled and the number of able-bodied adults on SNAP fell 72 percent.

• Requiring states to count the income of all adults who live in a home when determining assistance eligibility, eliminating current loopholes which allow for individuals that live together to each receive welfare benefits.