A report released in February by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Economic Research Service (ERS) shows that, despite 20 years of increasing local autonomy in administering the SNAP program (also called 'food stamps'), all 50 states have actually made it easier for people to receive their benefits.

The policies that have nudged SNAP the furthest in a user-friendly direction are pretty much what you’d expect:

Some states have stopped looking at applicants’ savings accounts and other assets, electing instead to consider only their monthly earnings. Others have increased SNAP income limits, meaning applicants can make a little more than the federal minimum wage and still be eligible for benefits.

These kinds of policy innovations make a lot of sense when you consider the differences in minimum wage and cost of living throughout the country.

The other innovations include the availability of online applications and a policy called “simplified reporting,” which reduces the number of times a household has to call the SNAP office if their financial circumstances change. The implementation of Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT), where SNAP users receive their benefits on a magnetically encoded payment card every month, was found to lower the stigma associated with food stamps use and therefore improve enrollment.

Read the full article on SNAP benefits at The New Food Economy