FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — More than 10,000 low-income Kentucky adults no longer have access to a federal program that helps them buy food after state officials slowly reinstated rules requiring them to either get a job or do volunteer work to keep their benefits.
The rules for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, have been in place since 1996 when they were signed into law by former Democratic President Bill Clinton. Kentucky was exempt from those rules following the Great Recession that began in 2008.
As the economy has improved, Republican Gov. Matt Bevin’s administration has slowly let most of those exemptions expire. Of the roughly 54,000 adults eligible for the requirements, slightly more than 10,000 have lost access, according to data analyzed by the Kentucky Center for Economy Policy.
