Waivers Gone Wild: The Next Wave in Waiver Abuse
Key Findings
- There are more than four million able-bodied adults without dependents on food stamps, and most do not work at all.
- States have used gimmicks and loopholes to waive work requirements for able-bodied adults, even in areas with low unemployment.
- Nearly 75 percent of able-bodied adults will not be subject to work requirements.
- Less than two percent of counties with waivers have unemployment rates at or above 10 percent—the statutory threshold—and most are below the average rate classified as “full employment.”
- With more open jobs than people looking for work, America needs more able-bodied adults to move from welfare to work.
Overview
There are eight million open jobs nationwide, but employers are struggling to fill these vacancies.1 Even worse, inflation is rampant, and the economy remains stagnant.2-3 Meanwhile, able-bodied adults continue to flood the food stamp rolls.
Federal law requires able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs) to work, train, or volunteer at least part time to maintain program eligibility.4 These work requirements apply to able-bodied adults between the ages of 18 and 54 who are physically and mentally fit for employment and have no dependent children at home.5
Currently, there are more than 4.2 million ABAWDs enrolled in the food stamp program nationwide—most of whom are not working at all.6 Despite federal law requiring work requirements for ABAWDs, many states have found ways to game the system to waive work requirements for as many able-bodied adults as possible.
States are using loopholes and gimmicks to game the system
For decades, states have used loopholes and gimmicks to game the system and waive work requirements in as many jurisdictions as possible.7 Congress intended for waivers to be used sparingly, primarily in areas that are without suitable job opportunities for able-bodied adults and have unemployment rates above 10 percent.8 However, during the final days of the Clinton administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) bureaucrats issued new rules that created loopholes allowing states to waive work requirements for millions of able-bodied adults—even during periods of significant economic growth.9
This has allowed states to waive work requirements in areas with objectively low unemployment, utilize outdated data as justification, and even gerrymander areas together to waive work requirements in as many jurisdictions as possible.10 Even worse, both the Obama and Biden-Harris administrations have pressured states to continue the trend of waiving work requirements for able-bodied adults trapped in a vicious cycle of dependency.11
During the pandemic, these commonsense work requirements were suspended nationwide. But prior to the pandemic, these gimmicks and loopholes left many able-bodied adults on food stamps on the sidelines—with 74 percent of ABAWDs not working at all and only three percent working full time.12 While the nationwide suspension of work requirements was eventually lifted, states are once again using loopholes and gimmicks to game the system. States estimate that more than 74 percent of ABAWDs will not be subject to work requirements in 2024.13
Gerrymandering wipes out work requirements
Federal law provides states the opportunity to submit a request to waive work requirements in areas with high unemployment.14 However, current rules allow states to combine counties, cities, and other jurisdictions to create one single “area” for waiver purposes—a loophole that states abuse to gerrymander areas together to waive work requirements for as many able-bodied adults as possible.15 Officials from multiple states admitted that they requested “waivers in as many parts of the state as possible” to “minimize the areas” subject to the work requirement.16 These state officials are often guided by left-wing advocacy groups, such as the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), who use software and analyses that are designed to maximize the number of able-bodied adults states can waive from the work requirement.17
For example, in Kentucky, state officials requested a waiver for 98 individual counties that were combined into one “area” for waiver purposes—many of which would not qualify without gerrymandering.18-19
In Oregon, state officials combined 31 counties and eight Indian reservations into two “areas” when submitting their waiver request.20 However, many of these counties would fail to qualify individually, and some even had unemployment rates well below the national average.21
Manipulating old data for new waivers
Federal law limits the use of waivers to areas with unemployment rates above 10 percent or that otherwise lack suitable job opportunities for able-bodied adults.22 This phrasing is present tense, which indicates that USDA should only waive work requirements based on the criteria of current economic conditions. However, Clinton-era regulations and Obama-era guidance have led to an extended “lookback period” that allows states to continue waiving work requirements well after an economic crisis has ended.23
Under these rules, states are allowed to use unemployment data that dates at least as far back as the period used to calculate labor surplus areas.24 In October 2024, California operated under a waiver using data from more than five years ago—data that is heavily skewed by the pandemic and government-imposed lockdowns—despite those economic conditions being irrelevant to current conditions.25
Other states, including Illinois and New York, are relying on unemployment data from early to mid-2021—data that is more than three years old—when unemployment rates were much higher than today.26-27 However, all states with active waivers are relying on outdated data from the economic lag following the height of the pandemic.28
Work requirements are waived despite low unemployment
Federal law limits the use of waivers to areas with unemployment rates above 10 percent and that lack suitable job opportunities.29 But during the Clinton administration, loopholes were adopted that created “alternative procedures” that instead allowed areas to qualify for a waiver if their local unemployment rate was 20 percent higher than the national average.30 Rather than focusing on the availability of jobs, this loophole instead focuses on how an area’s unemployment rate compares to the national average. Common sense suggests that some pockets of the nation will always have an area where the unemployment rate underperforms when compared to the national average—perpetually qualifying them for waivers, even during periods of economic growth.
Today, states can qualify for waivers based on unemployment rates that are less than one percentage point higher than the national average.31
Of the more than the 835 counties nationwide where work requirements are either fully or partially waived, only seven counties—less than one percent—have unemployment rates above the 10 percent statutory threshold.32 More than two-thirds of these counties have unemployment rates below the average rate that the U.S. Department of Labor has classified as “full employment” over the last 40 years.33-34
Left-wing advocacy groups are aiding states in waiver abuse
States have a long history of gaming the system by using gimmicks and loopholes to waive work requirements in as many jurisdictions as possible. However, the next wave of waiver abuse is left-wing advocacy groups—like CBPP—assisting states throughout the process. This is not surprising as former-Deputy Undersecretary Stacy Dean—who oversaw the food stamp program and unlawfully implemented the largest food stamp expansion in program history—spent most of her career at CBPP lobbying Congress to repeal welfare reform laws and encouraging states to game the system by abusing waivers.35
To determine the severity of the situation, the Foundation for Government Accountability submitted open records requests across 10 states to uncover any correspondence between state officials and CBPP. While only six states responded, the results were stunning.
Indeed, these requests resulted in more than 13,000 pages of correspondence between state officials and CBPP. Most notably, there were roughly a dozen waiver requests written by CBPP that were either identical—or nearly identical—to the waiver requests actually submitted by the state. These requests also revealed other materials provided by CBPP, such as maps of impacted areas, technical analyses for waiver requests, efforts to maximize welfare enrollment and minimize the scope of work requirements, and much more.
While several states have worked with CBPP to game the system, Minnesota serves as the worst example yet—as state officials have openly admitted they work with CBPP on their waiver requests.36 In 2023, state officials recognized that many counties statewide would not qualify for a waiver—despite the many gimmicks and loopholes already in place.37 The Walz administration requested a waiver for specific areas using gerrymandered groupings of ZIP Codes as justification—but the U.S. Department of Labor does not provide ZIP Code-level unemployment data.38 As a result, state officials manipulated Census survey responses to create their own faulty data in their quest to minimize work requirements as much as possible.39
Work requirements work
When welfare was reformed in the 1990s, work requirements became commonplace in the food stamp program. Since then, millions of able-bodied adults have moved from welfare to work—which has led to economic growth.40 State-level analyses have reached similar conclusions regarding the success of work requirements.41-46
When food stamp work requirements were implemented at the state level, able-bodied adults exited welfare in droves.47-51 Able-bodied adults returned to work in more than 1,000 diverse industries, touching every corner of the economy.52-54 Incomes more than doubled within a year and tripled within two years.55-59 The increased incomes earned by these able-bodied adults more than offset welfare benefits that were lost—putting them on the path toward self-sufficiency.60-64
The Bottom Line: Congress must rein in waivers gone wild to help millions of able-bodied adults transition from welfare to work.
By closing loopholes and reinstating commonsense work requirements, Congress can help move millions of able-bodied adults out of dependency and off the sidelines, kickstarting the economic recovery and helping employers fill millions of jobs nationwide.
Some states are already moving on this issue giving Congress a blueprint to follow. After a long history of waiver abuse, the Louisiana State Legislature and Governor Jeff Landry decided to reverse course in 2024 by enacting Senate Bill 195.65 This legislation prohibits state bureaucrats from seeking new waivers moving forward, and firmly cements Louisiana’s commitment to commonsensework requirements.
Congress should close these loopholes and rein in waivers gone wild to help jumpstart an economic comeback.
