Abstract

Broad-based categorical eligibility (BBCE) in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is an administrative function with broad implications for SNAP caseloads and expenditures. Though Congress originally established BBCE as a way to lower administrative burden and increase program efficiency, states have used it in recent decades to expand SNAP eligibility beyond statutory income eligibility limits of 130 percent of the federal poverty level and other eligibility conditions. While ending the BBCE policy would return eligibility limits to their Congressional intent, an inadvertent downside would be that benefit cliffs for SNAP participants would worsen in the states that currently use the policy to expand income eligibility limits. We propose a solution—end BBCE but realign the benefit structure to reduce benefit cliffs uniformly.