DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA et al v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE et al

Filing 3

MOTION for Preliminary Injunction by DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA (Attachments: #1 Declaration STEVEN BANKS, #2 Declaration EDWARD BOLEN, #3 Declaration TIKKI BROWN, #4 Declaration CATHERINE BUHRIG, #5 Declaration ALEXIS CARMEN FERNANDEZ, #6 Declaration STEVE H. FISHER, #7 Declaration HOLLY FREISHTAT, #8 Declaration JEFFREY GASKELL, #9 Declaration DEIDRE S. GIFFORD, #10 Declaration HEATHER HARTLINE-GRAFTON, #11 Declaration DANIEL R. HAUN, #12 Declaration KATHLEEN KONOPKA, #13 Declaration ED LAZERE, #14 Declaration BRITTANY MANGINI, #15 Declaration VICTORIA NEGUS, #16 Declaration ELISA NEIRA, #17 Declaration S. DUKE STOREN, #18 Declaration DAWN M. SWEENEY, #19 Declaration LAURA ZEILINGER, #20 Text of Proposed Order)(Konopka, Kathleen). Added MOTION to Stay on 1/24/2020 (znmw).

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, STATE
OF NEW YORK, STATE OF
CALIFORNIA, STATE OF
CONNECTICUT, STATE OF
MARYLAND, COMMONWEALTH
OF MASSACHUSETTS, ATTORNEY
GENERAL DANA NESSEL ON
BEHALF OF THE PEOPLE OF
MICHIGAN, STATE OF
MINNESOTA, STATE OF NEVADA,
STATE OF NEW JERSEY, STATE
OF OREGON, COMMONWEALTH
OF PENNSYLVANIA, STATE OF
RHODE ISLAND, STATE OF
VERMONT, COMMONWEALTH OF
VIRGINIA, and CITY OF NEW
YORK,

Case No. 1:20-cv-00119

Plaintiffs,
v.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF
AGRICULTURE; GEORGE ERVIN
PERDUE III, in his official capacity as
Secretary of the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, and UNITED STATES
OF AMERICA,
Defendants.
DECLARATION OF LAURA ZEILINGER IN SUPPORT OF
PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION
Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1746, I, Laura Green Zeilinger, declare and state as follows:
1.
I am over the age of eighteen (18) years, competent to testify to the matters
contained herein, and testify based on my personal knowledge and information.
2.
Since January 2015, I have served as Director of the District of Columbia (the
District) Department of Human Services (DHS). I have been committed to underserved
populations throughout my career. Prior to my position as DHS Director, I served as the Deputy
Director and then Executive Director of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness,
where I was responsible for the implementation of Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to
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Prevent and End Homelessness, an effort that includes the coordination of Federal homelessness
policies among nineteen federal departments and agencies, as well as partnerships with state and
local communities, non-profits, and the private sector. I also previously served as DHS Deputy
Director for Program Operations and led efforts to create permanent supportive housing for
persons experiencing homelessness and housing stability for District residents.
3.
I am aware that the federal government recently issued a final rule “Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program: Requirements for Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents” 84
Fed. Reg. 66,782 (Dec. 5, 2019) (the “Final Rule”). Under prior authority, able-bodied adults
without dependents (ABAWD) may only receive three months of benefits from the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) unless they fulfill certain work requirements. However,
states, including the District of Columbia, with areas of high unemployment may apply for
waivers of this time limit. The Final Rule eliminates or restricts many of the criteria upon which
states can rely when applying for a waiver of the ABAWD time limit. I have reviewed the Final
Rule and am aware of its direct implications on the administration of the Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, within the District. I
understand that this lawsuit challenges the Final Rule.
4.
DHS empowers every District resident to reach their full potential by providing
meaningful connections to work opportunities, economic assistance, and supportive services
through two administrative offices: the Economic Security Administration (ESA) and the Family
Services Administration (FSA).  


ESA determines eligibility for locally and federally funded public assistance
benefits programs for District residents, including but not limited to: SNAP,
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Interim Disability Assistance
(IDA), Program on Work, Employment and Responsibility (POWER), Refugee
Cash Assistance (RCA), Burial Assistance (BA), and General Assistance for
Children (GC). ESA also determines eligibility for medical assistance programs,
and subsidized child care.



In addition, ESA’s SNAP Employment and Training (SNAP E&T) program
provides employment and training services to voluntary participants that receive
SNAP benefits but not TANF benefits, including SNAP recipients who are
subject to the ABAWD work requirements . ESA also performs monitoring,
quality control, and reporting functions required by federal law and court orders.  



FSA provides social services, case management and crisis intervention to meet the
needs of vulnerable adults and families with children to help reduce risk and
promote self-sufficiency. FSA administers programs and grants including the
following: Homeless Services to individuals and families who are homeless or at
risk of homelessness including outreach, crisis intervention, prevention, shelter,
transitional housing, rapid rehousing, permanent supportive housing, emergency
rental assistance, and housing navigation; Domestic Violence Services including
protection, emergency shelter, and crisis intervention services to victims of
domestic violence; Youth Services including the Alternatives to the Court
Experience, Parent and Adolescent Support Services, Teen Parent Assessment,
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Youth Homeless Services, and Strengthening Teens Enriching Parents programs;
Strong Families which provides comprehensive case management and support to
families in crisis to help stabilize the family; the Refugee Resettlement Program;
and the Community Services Block Grant.  
5.
Poverty and equity are long-standing, complex issues that the United States has
been grappling with for years. A host of socio-economic factors implicate these overarching
issues, including a lack of affordable housing and necessary reforms to our education system as
essential ingredients to enable the ability and opportunity for sustainable work. It is
unreasonable to expect that such a sea change as the Final Rule could be implemented on such a
tight timeframe. The Final Rule does not appear to fully consider or comprehend the complexity
of this issue or the difficulty of implementation in only a few months’ time.
6.
Since work requirements for ABAWD SNAP recipients were instituted under the
Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, the District has never
been subject to said requirements as the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has
granted the District a statewide waiver each year due to the District’s economic conditions and
socio-economic factors.
7.

The District’s current statewide waiver expires on March 31, 2020.

8.
Approximately 110,000 District residents received SNAP benefits in a given
month during Fiscal Year (FY) 2019, of which approximately 14,500 would be subject to the
time limits as a result of the District losing its statewide waiver under the Final Rule. If the
District loses its statewide waiver, DHS estimates, based on data and experience from other
jurisdictions which lost their waivers, that 80-90% of individuals subject to the SNAP ABAWD
work requirements and time limits, or 11,600 – 13,050, would lose their SNAP benefits. 
9.
The District’s unemployment rate has been more than 20 percent above the
national unemployment rate for most of the last 25 years, with rare exceptions falling during
times of high unemployment in both the District and nationally. Bureau of Labor Statistics Local
Area Unemployment Data showing that the District has experienced a 24-month average
unemployment rate that is 20 percent above the national average for the same period (the “20
percent standard”) has been the primary basis for the District’s statewide waiver of the ABAWD
time limits.
10.
The unemployment rate in the District as of September 2019 is 5.4%, which is
54% higher than the national unemployment rate as of September 2019, which is 3.5%. Although
the unemployment rate in the District far exceeds the 20 percent standard, it still falls short of the
Final Rule’s new unemployment floor rate of 6 percent, which disqualifies the District from
having a statewide waiver under the Final Rule.
11.
Unlike other states, the District does not have “substate” areas recognized by the
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The District is administratively divided into eight wards, three
of which have unemployment rates higher than the unemployment rate floor. As of September
2019, Ward 5 has an unemployment rate of 6.5%, Ward 7 has an unemployment rate of 8.7%,
and Ward 8 has an unemployment rate of 11.6%, more than double the unemployment rate floor.

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However, DHS would not be able to obtain a partial waiver targeting these wards because the
Final Rule restricts partial waivers to Labor Market Areas (LMAs) as designated by the
Department of Labor, and the District has no sub-region that is designated as an LMA.
Moreover, due to the geographic size of the District, concentration of District residents, and rate
of homelessness, subdivisions would be highly problematic.
12.
Many individuals who would become subject to the SNAP ABAWD work
requirements and time limits in the District face barriers to employment that are common for our
low-income residents. Most working-age adults on SNAP who can work, do so. Unfortunately,
low-paying jobs with unreliable hours and little to no benefits are all too common for individuals
without a post-secondary education. Workers in the low-wage market cannot rely on always
having a steady full-time job that pays a living wage, and work requirements will not create these
jobs. Without basic benefits, getting sick or having a transportation issue can often mean a
worker loses their job. The District’s labor market has a much higher portion of high skills jobs
than the national average, with a majority of jobs requiring at least a bachelor’s degree. Most
low-income District residents have a high school degree or less, creating a skills disparity for this
population that is greater than in many other areas of the country, which is reflected in the
District’s consistently above-average unemployment rate. The District is also in the unique
position of having a majority of jobs filled by individuals that reside in neighboring jurisdictions,
all of which have higher average educational attainment levels than the District. This competition
for available jobs exacerbates low-income residents’ skills disparity and ultimate inability to find
work that supplies a living wage. Additional barriers to employment that are common among
SNAP recipients include housing instability and/or homelessness, transportation challenges,
felony convictions, physical health issues, substance use disorders, and behavioral health
conditions. There are many people who have spent years working manual labor jobs who are
able to work, but not in positions that they have the skills to be competitive for.
13.
Administrative logistics would have to be absorbed by DHS to adjust operations
significantly and incur hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional costs each year that would
detract from other elements of the District’s SNAP and potentially other programs. DHS
anticipates that it would have to add additional full-time employees to meet this need and would
have to significantly expand capacity of its work-related programs. The District would also need
to develop and disseminate notices to impacted and potentially impacted households advising of
their ABAWD status, rights and responsibilities with respect to the new work requirements,
reporting obligations, and advanced notice of any adverse actions taken on their SNAP cases as a
result of the Final Rule’s implementation. DHS anticipates high administrative costs (staff,
notices, service center time) incurring as a result. Instead of enhancing the SNAP program or the
ability of DHS and its other programs to enhance self-sufficiency, these costs illustrate that the
proposal will detract from the SNAP program and the Final Rule’s stated goal.
14.
The District’s current SNAP E&T program, administered by DHS, offers the
following components to voluntary participants, including assessments and case management
services:


Job search training: sub-components/ activities include employability
assessments, training in techniques to increase employability, job placement
services, and other trainings and activities to improve employability;
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

Work experience: sub-components/ activities include on-the-job training, preapprenticeships and apprenticeships, internship programs, and work experience;



Educational and Vocational Training: sub-components/ activities include adult
basic education (including high school equivalency), career and/or technical
education programs, vocational training, English language acquisition, integrated
education and training/bridge programs, and work readiness training; and



Job retention services for up to 90 days after employment to assist individuals
with maintaining employment after completing other SNAP E&T activities.

15.
DHS does not have the capacity to expand its SNAP E&T program to meet all of
the needs of individuals who would become subject to the SNAP ABAWD work requirements
and time limits to help them avoid loss of food assistance. DHS’s SNAP E&T program currently
serves about 1,200 individuals and is planning to serve 2,000 individuals in FY 2020, or a
fraction of the estimated ABAWD population in the District. The SNAP E&T program is already
taking full advantage of available SNAP E&T 100 percent funds and 50 percent funds. The
District recently learned that SNAP E&T 50 percent funding has reached the cap for fiscal year
2020 based on State Plan budget submissions from all of the states. The District has consistently
leveraged a significantly higher portion of 50 percent funds per capita than most states by
spending several hundred thousand dollars of its own resources and leveraging millions of
dollars in subgrantee resources to serve our SNAP population through this program. Despite
these strong efforts, the SNAP E&T program is not funded at a level that would allow for
participation of thousands of additional participants. And with SNAP E&T 50 percent funds
being more limited than in past years and federal funding for other workforce programs
remaining relatively flat, it is unclear whether the District will have adequate funds to expand
workforce services for ABAWDs even over a multi-year timeframe.
16.
The District does not have any discretionary exemptions yet because it has not
disqualified residents for failing to meet ABAWD time limit requirements. Although the Final
Rule’s limits on carryovers of exemptions does not have an immediate impact on the District, it
limits the District’s ability to provide exemptions for District SNAP recipients in the future.
17.
DHS is also concerned about the substantial resources that would be needed to
defend against potential legal challenges from individuals who become subject to the SNAP
ABAWD work requirements and time limits who lose access to SNAP benefits. In particular,
DHS is aware that other states, including New York, Louisiana, and Florida, have faced legal
challenges by ABAWDs and advocates when they attempted to implement ABAWD rules.
ABAWD implementation is particularly susceptible to legal challenges because the rules are
complex and burdensome to operationalize. The Agency will be tasked with creating new
ABAWD notice content that, in the opinion of any Judge or Administrative Law Judge
reviewing a legal challenge, is sufficiently thorough while distilling the extremely complex
ABAWD rules down to a reading level and format that is easy for a lay-audience of public
assistance beneficiaries to comprehend.
18.
Because of the short ABAWD time limit and federal regulatory constraints on the
reporting DHS may require from SNAP recipients, unless DHS significantly increases the

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frequency with which SNAP ABAWD recipients must reapply for SNAP from yearly to every 4
months, it would be possible for ABAWDs to lose SNAP eligibility several months before they
are notified of their failure to meet ABAWD work requirements. Increased frequency of
reapplication will place a strain on DHS case processing staff and customers. SNAP
recertification requires completion of an application form, an interview, and submission of
verification documentation. Additional verifications at certification will have to be requested to
determine exemption status or participation in other qualifying activities. To comply with due
process and federal SNAP regulations, DHS must send out an array of consumer notices on very
specific timelines, dependent upon the degree to which the household complies with each step in
the recertification process. Eligible individuals will have more opportunities to lose access to
food assistance for administrative reasons, such as not timely returning SNAP recertification
application paperwork. DHS will have to absorb the increased SNAP recertification demands.
19.
By losing much-needed nutrition assistance, District residents who lose their
SNAP benefits may face negative health consequences. Food insecurity is associated with
greater use of health care services. Adults in food-insecure households are about 50 percent more
likely to visit an emergency room and to be admitted to a hospital, and they stay hospitalized
about 50 percent longer, than adults in food-secure households – thus driving up healthcare
costs.1
20.
The large loss of SNAP benefits contemplated by this Final Rule will also have a
negative impact on sectors of the local economy, which has traditionally struggled with food
insecurity and food deserts. This drop will have a particularly harsh impact on the areas of the
District that see the highest rates of unemployment: Wards 5, 7, and 8. The District estimates that
of the amount of individuals who will become subject to the SNAP ABAWD work requirements
and time limits in the jurisdiction, roughly 80-90% or 11,600 – 13,050 individuals would lose
SNAP benefits due to being unable to secure employment within the three-month period. As
SNAP benefits provide purchasing power to help SNAP customers meet their food needs, a
significant drop in SNAP participants and their benefits as a result of the ABAWD time limits
will translate into $36 - $41 million in lost economic activity. This drop would be concentrated
in the wards that need the benefits the most. In fact, currently Ward 8 alone has more than 5,600
individuals who will become subject to the SNAP ABAWD work requirements and time limits,
more than a third of all of the SNAP ABAWD recipients in the District. The loss of these
stabilizing funds would not only affect the individuals themselves, but it would also affect
DHS’s efforts to increase access to healthy food for District residents in our most challenged
wards. By cutting off SNAP benefits without the beneficiary having secured stable long-term
employment, this proposal will decrease the purchasing power of some of the District’s lowest
income residents, making it harder to establish supermarkets and other types of food access in
these communities.
21.
The loss of SNAP benefits as a result of the Final Rule will also affect several
local initiatives, including DHS’s Healthy Corner Store Initiative and Produce Plus program,
which enhances SNAP through SNAP benefit matching. By definition, preventing individuals
from accessing SNAP will also make them ineligible for these programs. Further, the District’s
1

http://uknowledge.uky.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1105&context=ukcpr_papers.

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