COLUMBUS, Ohio — The work requirements to qualify for SNAP benefits have become a topic of heated discussion in Washington. The SNAP program will expire this year and a group of Republican lawmakers say tougher work requirements are needed to qualify for benefits. 

What You Need To Know

  •  SNAP Benefits work requirements are being discussed to make it harder to get benefits

  •  Some lawmakers also want to subject anyone under the age of 65 to those requirements

  •  The SNAP law will expire in September

There are already work requirements for getting benefits, but there are also loopholes that allow people to avoid those requirements, such as living in a community with high unemployment

Researchers have studied how the current system has worked in Ohio. They said the work requirement does not always end up encouraging people to get a job.

Will Petrik, the project director of Policy Matters Ohio, told Spectrum News they conducted research regarding SNAP benefits, work requirements, and the state-level temporary assistance for needy families program.

"What we saw with TANF in Ohio is basically the caseload was that close to 550,000 households at the beginning," Petrik said."Back in 1996 and as of September of last year, that number was down to less than 73,000 households."

Policy Matters Ohio found people didn't leave the program from gaining employment, instead they just stopped getting benefits.

In Washington, a group of Republican lawmakers is advocating for tougher work requirements. Currently, anyone over the age of 49 isn't subjected to work requirements. Republicans want it to be a requirement for anyone under the age of 65.

Republican State Representative Scott Wiggam told Spectrum News he agrees with the call to make requirements tougher but says at the moment a lot of people in Ohio are still under a waiver regarding their work requirements. Wiggam wants to get rid of the waiver. 

"It's not good for somebody to sit out of the workforce for a couple of years because they didn't have to do it," Wiggam said. 

The size of a family’s SNAP benefit is based on its income and certain expenses. The current SNAP law will expire on September 30th.