GOP is pushing work requirements in debt-limit talks — but experts say they don't work
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Among Republican lawmakers's list of demands in their debt-ceiling negotiations with the Biden Administration is a push to add more work requirements for the food-stamp, Medicaid and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs. One big problem, experts say, is that there's little evidence that such rules actually help people get back to work. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the formal name for the food-stamp program, already has work requirements for many recipients, which Republican lawmakers want to expand to cover more low-income and older Americans. But the existing rules haven't had much of an impact on getting people back to work, and adding more regulations risks bumping struggling families from the program's rolls, experts say. Work requirements "don't accomplish what they are supposed to accomplish, which is increasing employment and income," Shawn Fremstad, dir