Blog

Today, America Forward led a group of 31 diverse organizations from across the country in sending a letter to the Senate and House Committees on Agriculture in support of including the RESET for America’s Future Act of 2023, or RESET Act, in the 2023 Farm Bill reauthorization. 

Introduced by Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), the RESET Act will improve and strengthen the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Employment and Training program, known as SNAP E&T, which provides workforce-development programming nationwide to help SNAP participants secure stable, good-paying employment and achieve greater economic mobility. 

The RESET Act will streamline federal funding and improve outcomes for SNAP E&T participants by giving States the essential support and incentives to strengthen evidence-based, innovative workforce development approaches, along with investments in supportive services and robust data infrastructure that facilitates service alignment and performance management.

Key components of the introduced legislation include:

• Supporting state investment in effective, innovative, performance-driven activities by providing 100% reimbursement for evidence-based programming, while also allowing States to fund administration, evaluation, and technical assistance. Today, most federal funds are reimbursed at only a 50% match, making this 100% match a substantial increase for States to leverage and drive workforce development. 
• Matching support for federal workforce dollars through additional alignment between workforce funding streams, such as WIOA. 
• Full funding for supportive costs that enable participants to engage in E&T through 100% reimbursement of such costs. 10 SNAP E&T pilots demonstrated that such services, especially transportation, are essential to help individuals participate and remain engaged in programming, despite most facing barriers to offering such services, usually due to funding.
• Ensuring participants are able to complete services by allowing them to receive services up to 6 months after they would otherwise “income out,” helping participants build the skills and credentials for sustained economic mobility. Today, participants who earn more–for instance, through subsidized employment programs—are at risk of losing access to their E&T services once they are no longer SNAP-eligible, even if they have not completed their program.
• Investing in data infrastructure by formally authorizing dedicated support for state data infrastructure, enabling more effective tracking of program and participant outcomes and alignment with other workforce investments, such as WIOA, across states.

The RESET Act will help us to realize the full potential of SNAP E&T programming by ensuring more people can participate in high-quality, evidence-based employment and training programs.