Some 15-hundred Nevada County residents, out of around seven-thousand total recipients, will lose their food stamps by next April, as part of a Trump Administration proposal to tighten work requirements. The rule would apply to able-bodied adults, 18 to 49 years old, with no dependents. The County’s Director of Social Services, Tex Ritter, says under current law such people can receive Cal Fresh benefits for a maximum of three months during a three-year period, unless they’re working or enrolled in an education or training program for 80 hours a month. But states have been able to waive this time limit, to ensure access to food stamps during the ups and downs of re-entering the workforce…

Before this rule change, counties with an unemployment rate as low as two-and-a-half percent were included in waived areas. Ritter says he expects court challenges to possibly prevent the revision. But he says if it becomes reality, it will hurt economic development…

The new rule would tighten criteria for states applying for waivers, making six-percent the minimum unemployment rate for a county to receive it.