Food Stamps

Last week, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a plan to subsidize food stamps recipients for “Heat and Eat” so they could still gain access to the benefits that they thought they’d lost. It wasn’t a decision without controversy, and now another state is taking the same route—Connecticut.

What did New York Do

In a statement, Governor Cuomo announced that the state of New York would be funneling $6 million from the Office of Temporary Disability Assistance and putting it into the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, the organization that would pay food stamps recipients’ Home Energy Assistance Program contributions.

This move was huge because although it only cost New York $6 million ($20 per person of 300,000 total), it ended up bringing in much more in extra benefits. In terms of exact numbers, New York’s $6 million contribution would work out to a total of $457.2 million extra in benefits for the 300,000 citizens who are privy to the program, as now they’ll be able to get an extra $1,524 a year.

And Connecticut…?

Governor Dannel P. Malloy is doing the same as Governor Cuomo, albeit on a smaller scale. Instead of having his state kick in $6 million like New York, Malloy’s order will only be $1.4 million in federal energy aid, and directed at 50,000 people, not 300,000. This will raise low-income Connecticut residents’ contributions from the previous $1 to the newly-mandated $20, resulting in their not losing the $112 a month in extra benefits.

The total amount that Governor Malloy’s move will cost the federal government will be $67 million, or $65.6 million after his initial contribution is subtracted. Vermont is also thinking of doing the same thing, although their spending increase would be much less, but still a huge jump nonetheless: an increase of $325,000 to $400,000 to maintain $6 million in food stamp money.

But in Other Words

There are vocal critics of this move, of course, with the founder and president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Robert Greenstein, saying: “Congress did not intend for states to stretch the benefit rules this way and longstanding SNAP supporters like myself find it difficult to defend.”

Policy analyst Rachel Sheffield of the conservative Heritage Foundation goes even further: “The extra money being spent is an artificial boost of an amount that a household is receiving, but they’re doing so through a scheme, basically. We need to be sure that money spent goes to those most in need rather than states using a loophole to boost money they’re receiving.”

However, there’s also the argument to be made that the extra boost in money means more people will be able to eat as often as they need to instead of making a tough choice between food and bills. Marissa Parisi, the executive director of Hunger Free Vermont, explains that an extra $90 a month in food benefits means more to recipients than critics think. “For a family of four, that’s a week or more of groceries.”

How this new food stamps move will turn out is anyone’s guess, with three possible options: an amendment is made to close this loophole/saving grace; Congress does nothing and lets states do as they please; or the move carries on until the next Farm Bill is passed and then something is done about it.