Congress Acts to Improve Food Stamps

In a small but significant victory for low-income working families, the House and Senate have adopted two important changes in the Food Stamp Program.

The changes originated in the Hunger Relief Act, which was introduced by Senator Arlen Specter and Senator Edward Kennedy in October 1999. Nationwide advocacy on behalf of the Act culminated in a crucial October 7th vote in the Agriculture Appropriations conference committee where Senator Specter cast the deciding vote.

The first change allows states to apply in its Food Stamp Program the vehicle value limit the state has set for its Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Program. Since Pennsylvania currently exempts one vehicle, regardless of value, from consideration in TANF, the change in federal law will allow it to do the same in the Food Stamp Program.

Under existing federal rules, Pennsylvania is required to count as a household resource the vehicle value in excess of $4,650. Since the resource limit for most families is $2,000, a $7,000 family car renders the family ineligible. ($7,000 minus $4,650 = $2,350, i.e. more than the $2,000 limit.) This is the result even if the vehicle is subject to a loan. As a result of this harsh rule, many rural families, who must have a reliable car to drive long distances to work, do not qualify for the Food Stamp Program.

The second change adopted by Congress adjusts the "shelter cap"
so that food stamp allotments more accurately reflect actual shelter costs. Under existing law, when shelter costs exceed one-half of available income, the excess is treated as an additional deduction from income. The purpose of this is to ensure that households with high shelter costs receive additional food stamps. In 1996, as part of balancing the federal budget, Congress cut food stamp benefits by "capping" the shelter deduction at $275 per month. The change will raise the shelter cap to $340 a month over four years and then index it to inflation.

These changes are expected to cost only about $350 million a year, a relatively modest sum compared to the $4 billion per year cut from food stamps by Congress in 1996. Regrettably, the action taken by Congress failed to help several hundred thousand legal immigrants who were shut out of the Food Stamp Program by the 1996 welfare reform law. Nevertheless, the changes will be positive for many Pennsylvanians who struggle to make ends meet despite low wages and rising housing costs. And the leadership of Arlen Specter may portend an important shift by Congress away from the old animus against the Food Stamp Program and toward the recognition that, until wages catch up with the costs of supporting a family, food stamps are a necessary part of our public health infrastructure.