Dan Freedman is reporting for the Times Union on the SNAP work requirement contained in the federal Farm Bill that U.S. Rep. John Faso voted for last week. The measure passed the House June 21, on a narrow 213 to 211 vote. As approved, the measure would expand the already existing work requirement for able-bodied recipients under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP. Anyone between the ages of 18 and 59, would be mandated to work or to participate in job-training for at least 20 hours a week. The new bill raises the previous age limit by 10 years, from 49 to 59. A Congressional Budget Office analysis of the bill found it would result in trimming $9 billion nationwide from the program over a decade. Other estimates say it would result in one million people losing the benefit. The House version of the bill, Freedman writes, "is likely to get roughed up in the Senate," where Democratic votes will be required to win approval. Agriculture Committee member Kirsten Gillibrand said she would fight to keep the House SNAP measure out of the Senate bill. “I am disturbed that House Republicans, including some from our own state, want to make it even harder for struggling families to put food on the table, and I think this plan is a blatant example of how out-of-touch Congress is about poverty in our country,” she said. In response to the criticism, Faso said, “This doesn’t reduce eligibility for SNAP; it simply says you should be in training or at work to receive benefits (if able-bodied). This is not ‘Grapes of Wrath.’” With 2.8 million recipients, New York has the fourth-largest SNAP population in the nation. About 60 percent of New York’s SNAP recipients live in New York City. In Faso's 19th Congressional District, 10 percent of the population receives SNAP, compared to 15 percent statewide. Read the full story in the Times Union.