Louisiana Revised Statutes Tit. 46, § 331. Findings and intent

(1) It is the policy of this state to encourage self-sufficiency so that Louisianians may reduce dependence on public assistance to meet basic needs and become economically self-reliant.

(2) The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as “food stamps” and referred to in this Subpart as “SNAP”, provides support to needy households and to persons making the transition from public assistance to work.

(3) Federal regulations provided for in 7 CFR 273.24 limit the duration of receipt of SNAP benefits by nonworking, able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWD) who do not qualify for certain exemptions to a total of three months in any three-year period. However, states may submit to the federal government applications, commonly known as “waivers”, to have this three-month limit waived. If approved, such waivers allow able-bodied, nonworking, nonexempt adults to receive SNAP benefits for an unlimited duration if those persons meet other eligibility standards of the program. Louisiana has long used these waivers to exempt the majority of able-bodied adults without dependents from the federal work requirement.

(4) Federal law allows states to exempt up to eight percent of able-bodied adults from the work requirement without providing any reason whatsoever. These “no-good-cause exemptions” also accumulate and carry over from year to year without limit. As a policy, Louisiana has not used these “no-good-cause exemptions”. However, because Louisiana has waived the work requirement, there has been no reason to use these additional exemptions.