The large and expensive FSP proved to be a favorite subject of close scrutiny from both the Executive Branch and Congress in the early 1980s. Major legislation in 1981 and 1982 enacted cutbacks including:
* addition of a gross income eligibility test in addition to the net income test for most households;
* temporary freeze on adjustments of the shelter deduction cap and the standard deduction and constraints on future adjustments;
* annual adjustments in food stamp allotments rather than semi-annual;
* consideration of non-elderly parents who live with their children and non-elderly siblings who live together as one household;
* required periodic reporting and retrospective budgeting;
* prohibition against using Federal funds for outreach;
* replacing the FSP in Puerto Rico with a block grant for nutrition assistance;
* counting retirement accounts as resources;
* State option to require job search of applicants as well as participants; and
* increased disqualification periods for voluntary quitters.
Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) began in Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1984.