RYAN “OPPORTUNITY GRANT” WOULD CUT FOOD & HOUSING

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan maintains that consolidating 11 safety-net and related programs into a single “Opportunity Grant” would give states the flexibility to provide specialized services to low-income people. But providing these services would require cutting assistance funded through the Opportunity Grant to other needy people. And because SNAP and housing assistance together make up more than 80% of the Opportunity Grant, the cuts would almost certainly reduce families’ access to these programs. Ryan’s proposal to add new work requirements and provide individualized services to people who receive assistance through Opportunity Grants would surely require new staff and raise administrative costs. States would likely turn to SNAP for at least some offsetting savings since it alone makes up more than half of the resources in the Opportunity Grant. And the Ryan proposal ends SNAP as an entitlement, eliminating eligible families’ guarantee to food assistance.

Source: Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, 7/29/14, Opportunity? Grants