A legislative subcommittee on Thursday approved an emergency rule to comply with a new federal law that extends certain public assistance program benefits to migrants from the Marshall Islands.

Arkansas is home to the largest Marshallese community in the country, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. 

The emergency rule the Department of Human Services presented to the Arkansas Legislative Council’s Executive Subcommittee Thursday afternoon updates eligibility provisions contained in the DHS Division of County Operations (DCO) rules to comply with the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024. 

The Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law on March 9, contains changes to the renegotiated Compacts of Free Association (COFA), which extend Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Transitional Employment Assistance (TEA) eligibility to citizens from the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of Palau. 

Immigrants in Arkansas struggle to achieve better life they came to the U.S. to find

COFA allows the United States to operate military bases in these Pacific Island nations in exchange for guarantees and economic assistance. Migrants from these Freely Associated States can live and work in the U.S. as lawful non-immigrants. 

According to documents submitted to the committee, an emergency rule is required because the Pacific Islander community has the highest poverty rate in Arkansas and “there exists imminent peril to the public health, safety and welfare of the state.”

More than 32% of the state’s Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander population live below the poverty rate, according to American Community Survey census data.  

“We’ve just now received the guidance from [USDA Food and Nutrition Service] and we have been asked repeatedly by some of the Marshallese for the need of this, so we bring it to you as an emergency rule to have it implemented,” said Janet Mann, DHS deputy secretary for programs and the state Medicaid director.

With no discussion from members, the committee quickly approved the rule, which co-chair Rep. Jeff Wardlaw, R-Hermitage, said would become effective upon adjournment of the Arkansas Legislative Council’s meeting Friday. 

A permanent rule will be promulgated to be effective by Dec. 1, according to documents submitted by DHS.

A report released last year by Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families and the Arkansas Coalition of Marshallese recommended granting Marshallese migrants SNAP eligibility through legislation like the Compact Impact Fairness Act to address the community’s struggles with food insecurity. 

Co-sponsored by Arkansas U.S. Rep. Steve Womack and Sen. John Boozman, the Compact Impact Fairness Act proposed allowing COFA migrants to qualify for most safety net programs, including SNAP. Language from that bill was incorporated into the amended compact with the Marshall Islands, which was agreed to last October. 

Compensation for past nuclear weapons testing by the U.S. was a sticking point in COFA negotiations and it delayed the renewal process. From 1946 to 1958, the U.S. conducted 67 nuclear weapons tests on and near the Marshall Islands, including the largest bomb ever detonated by the United States.

The original compact with the Republic of the Marshall Islands became effective in 1986, with economic assistance beginning in 1987. The RMI signed agreements in 2003 to renew compact assistance, and Congress passed legislation amending the compacts and extending economic assistance for 20 years.

But Marshallese migrants lost access to programs like Medicaid and SNAP two decades ago when their unique immigration status was not accounted for in the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, a 1996 welfare reform law. Congress restored Medicaid access in 2020, and the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024 amended the 1996 law to restore SNAP access this year.

Under the updated compact, COFA citizens are not subject to a waiting period and are immediately eligible for benefits as long as they meet all other SNAP requirements, according to guidance issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in July. 

COFA citizens who applied on or after March 9, 2024, and were denied SNAP benefits prior to the USDA issuing guidance may reapply or request a fair hearing within 90 days of the denial date. If an official determines the household was eligible for SNAP at the time of application, the state agency should issue retroactive benefits from the date of application, according to the guidance.

The USDA also encouraged state agencies to track COFA citizens who have been denied SNAP benefits since March and encourage them to reapply or request a fair hearing.