Welfare Reform and Upward Mobility Act
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Welfare Reform and Upward Mobility Act - Amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to declare that it should be the purpose of the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP, formerly the food stamp program) to increase employment, encourage healthy marriage, and promote prosperous self-sufficiency, which means the ability of households to maintain an income above the poverty level without services and benefits from the federal government.
Declares that food or a food product shall be considered a food under such Act only if it is a bare essential (as determined by the Secretary of Agriculture [USDA]).
Defines "able-bodied, work capable adult" and "physically or mentally incapable of work."
Prescribes additional conditions of participation, denying SNAP eligibility, for instance, to any able-bodied, work-capable adult who: (1) refuses to register for employment or without good cause accept an offer of employment at a certain wage, (2) refuses without good cause to give a state agency sufficient information of his or her employment status or job availability, (3) voluntarily quits a job or reduces work effort below 30 hours a week unless another adult in the same family unit increases employment to make up the difference, or (4) is on strike because of a labor dispute other than a lockout.
Revises SNAP eligibility requirements for students with dependent children.
Denies SNAP eligibility to members of a program-eligible family required by the state agency to participate in work activation unless the relevant one or more adults in such family comply with the work activation standards. Terminates benefits for all family members for failure to participate in work activation during a given month.
Prescribes work activation standards for a family unit with adult members required to participate in work activation.
Requires each state participating in SNAP to carry out a work activation program whose goals are to: (1) encourage and assist able-bodied, work-capable adult SNAP recipients to obtain paid employment; (2) reduce dependence on government assistance; and (3) ensure that able-bodied, work-capable adult SNAP recipients make a contribution to society and the taxpayers in exchange for assistance received.
The summary continues for 8 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on February 11, 2014. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on February 11, 2014: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 113th Congress (2013-14), 296 of the 9,091 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.3 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced it on February 11, 2014, and 3 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 3 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on February 11, 2014, 4594 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4594 days ago, on February 11, 2014.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 113th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2015 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers