PERMANENT RULES
SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES
(Economic Services Administration)
Effective Date of Rule: Thirty-one days after filing.
Other Findings Required by Other Provisions of Law as Precondition to Adoption or Effectiveness of Rule: RCW 34.05.380 (3)(c), the earlier effective date is necessary because of imminent peril to the public health, safety, or welfare.
Purpose: The community services division is amending WAC 388-444-0030 Do I have to work to be eligible for Basic Food benefits if I am an able-bodied adult without dependents (ABAWD)?, to extend the current ABAWD time limit for benefits from September 30, 2011, to September 30, 2012.
USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) notified Washington state that it is one of forty-six states that met criteria for extended unemployment benefits as determined by the United States Department of Labor's Unemployment Insurance Service. As a result, FNS has approved a statewide waiver of the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) ABAWD time limits and work requirements through at least September 30, 2012. This rule filing is needed to reflect the new expiration date in state code. The current ABAWD waiver is due to expire September 30, 2011.
The department is updating its rules to extend the suspension of eligibility time limits and work requirements for ABAWD individuals applying for or receiving food assistance under Basic Food or the state-funded food assistance program (FAP).
Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 388-444-0030.
Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 74.04.050, 74.04.055, 74.04.057, 74.04.510, and 74.08.090.
Other Authority: 7 C.F.R. § 273.24.
Adopted under notice filed as WSR 11-15-101 on July 20, 2011.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0.
Date Adopted: August 30, 2011.
Katherine I. Vasquez
Rules Coordinator
4316.1(a) Is physically and mentally able to work;
(b) Is age eighteen through forty-nine; and
(c) Has no child in the household.
(2) If you are an ABAWD, you must participate in employment and training activities under subsection (4) unless you are exempt from ABAWD requirements under WAC 388-444-0035.
(3) Nonexempt ABAWDs who fail to participate may continue
to receive food assistance until September 30, ((2011)) 2012.
(4) Beginning October 1, ((2011)) 2012, an ABAWD is not
eligible to receive food assistance for more than three full
months in a thirty-six month period, except as provided in WAC 388-444-0035, unless that person:
(a) Is exempt from ABAWD requirements under WAC 388-444-0035;
(b) Works at least twenty hours a week averaged monthly;
(c) Participates in on the job training (OJT), which may include paid work and classroom training time, for at least twenty hours a week;
(d) Participates in an unpaid work program as provided in WAC 388-444-0040; or
(e) Participates in and meets the requirements of one of the following work programs:
(i) The Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA);
(ii) Section 236 of the Trade Act of 1974; or
(iii) A state-approved employment and training program.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 74.04.050, 74.04.055, 74.04.057, 74.04.500, 74.04.515, 74.08.090, 74.08A.120, 74.08A.903, and 7 C.F.R. §§ 273.7 and 273.24. 10-23-112, § 388-444-0030, filed 11/17/10, effective 12/18/10. Statutory Authority: RCW 74.04.050, 74.04.055, 74.04.057, 74.04.510, 74.08.090, 74.04.500, 74.08A.120, and American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. 10-13-046, § 388-444-0030, filed 6/9/10, effective 7/10/10; 09-14-018, § 388-444-0030, filed 6/22/09, effective 7/23/09. Statutory Authority: RCW 74.04.050, 74.04.055, 74.04.057 and 74.08.090. 98-16-044, § 388-444-0030, filed 7/31/98, effective 9/1/98.]