The House of Representatives will vote today to strengthen one of our nation’s welfare programs for the neediest Americans. The Nutrition Reform and Work Opportunity Act (H.R. 3102) roots out waste, fraud, and abuse, encourages able bodied adults to find work, and saves taxpayers more than $39 billion.

Here are some of the highlights from the bill, which reforms and improves the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by:

• Preventing states from waiving work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents who receive SNAP benefits, and requires these adults to work at least 20 hours per week to be eligible for benefits (saves $19 billion);
• Eliminating auto-enrollment into SNAP under so-called “categorical eligibility,” ensuring that only those who are eligible for benefits receive them (saves $11.5 billion);
• Encouraging state governments to help recipients find work, which helps them gain new skills and experience – and therefore better wages and less of a need for taxpayer-funded benefits;
• Closing loopholes used to artificially inflate welfare rolls, and eliminating waste and fraud by requiring states to delete old, unused balances on benefit cards and permitting them to investigate retailer fraud (saves more than $8.69 billion); 
• Denying benefits to anyone convicted of murder, rape, or child molestation, and permitting states to conduct drug tests on applicants as a condition of eligibility;
• Ensuring the safety net for our nation’s poor has a sustainable path forward, without precluding individuals from applying for other benefits or services that they may need.

According to the Washington Examiner, “food stamp spending has swelled to $80 billion in 2012 from $35 billion in 2007.” Part of the reason is that the Obama administration all but gutted a critical part of the landmark bipartisan welfare reforms of 1996, explains National Review: “Since the recession, work requirements for able-bodied adults aged 18 to 50, who don’t have children and who are receiving food stamps for more than three months out of a three-year period, have mostly fallen by the wayside.”

H.R. 3102 makes getting individuals back to work a priority again within our welfare programs while protecting the neediest families – and the taxpayers struggling in President Obama’s economy.

Of course, a stronger economy is the best weapon against poverty and hunger. That’s why Republicans have been focused on reforms that will help grow our economy and expand opportunity for all Americans. Learn more about the Republican Plan for Economic Growth & Jobs at gop.gov/jobs.