{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://burlison.house.gov/media/press-releases/burlison-and-brecheen-introduce-america-works-welfare-reform-package", "Burlison and Brecheen Introduce \u201cAmerica Works\u201d Welfare Reform Package", "2023-07-27", "2023", "2023-07", "Republican", "House", "MO", "Eric Burlison", "B001316", "burlison.house.gov", "burlison", "https://burlison.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "Representatives Josh Brecheen and Eric Burlison (R-MO) introduced two bills aimed at reining in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) spending and getting Americans back to work.\n\nRep. Eric Burlison said, \u201cTemporary government assistance programs are supposed to be just that, temporary. Yet, millions of able-bodied Americans are receiving billions in government assistance at the expense of taxpayers and our national debt. It\u2019s time to end the cycle of dependency. The America Works package makes common-sense changes to welfare for able-bodied working-age Americans and rolls back the largest food stamp expansion in 45 years. It\u2019s time to get America back to work.\u201d\n\nRep. Josh Brecheen said, \u201cUnder President Biden, food stamp spending has increased by more than 27% in just two years\u2014the largest increase in the program\u2019s history. This increase in spending was not done by an act of Congress, but instead by unelected bureaucrats willfully usurping Congress\u2019 power of the purse. In addition to this Administration thumbing its nose at the Constitution, President Biden has encouraged many Americans to become too dependent on government, leading to an explosion of able-bodied individuals taking advantage of programs intended for those who really need it. As a society, we must be encouraging more people to work and lessening the dependency culture.\u201d\n\nTarren Bragdon, President and CEO at the Foundation for Government Accountability, said about the Ending the Cycle of Dependency Act, \u201cWith the Ending the Cycle of Dependency Act, Rep. Burlison addresses some of the biggest barriers to work head on. For years, states and bureaucrats have created and fostered loopholes that keep Americans out of the workforce and trapped in dependency. Work requirements work\u2014if you let them. By eliminating some of the biggest loopholes, more Americans can experience the value and dignity of work.\u201d\n\nTarren Bragdon, said about the Thrifty Food Plan Accountability Act, \u201cEverything about the Biden administration\u2019s spending habits have been unprecedented, so it\u2019s no surprise that USDA blew past decades-old standards, peer-review processes, and expert advice to unilaterally increase benefits. This reckless action did nothing but increase dependency and further erode trust in Washington. Rep. Brecheen\u2019s Thrifty Food Plan Accountability Act restores some fiscal sanity to the Thrifty Food Plan and helps this important program get back on track to serve the truly needy.\u201d\n\nRep. Burlison introduced the Ending the Cycle of Dependency Act, which caps assistance for able-bodied food stamp enrollees at 5 years, eliminates geographic waivers states regularly use to skirt work requirements, expands work requirements to parents on food stamps with children over the age of 6, and raises the current age limit exception for food stamp benefit eligibility to 65.\n\nRep. Brecheen introduced the Thrifty Food Plan Accountability Act, which would eliminate President Biden\u2019s unlawful Thrifty Food Plan increase that has led benefits to soar by 27%\u2014the largest permanent increase since the program\u2019s inception. The bill would also require any re-evaluations to be cost-neutral.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T00:18:03Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://burlison.house.gov/media/press-releases/burlison-and-brecheen-introduce-america-works-welfare-reform-package"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.7979280091822147, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}