USDA Seeks Full Food Stamp Eligibility

July 19,1999

USDA is launching a food stamp public awareness campaign to make sure all who qualify know they can get the food assistance. One provision: make it easier for working families to own a car and still get food stamps.

Other administrative program changes include regulations that simplify rules so that families do not have to report income as often and states will not be penalized for small errors in estimating families' future earnings.

A "tool kit" also is provided, part of the education and information campaign, to help local and state officials understand food stamp program requirements and strategies to improve participation.

In 1998, nearly 10 million people, more than a third of them children, lived in households that experienced hunger, according to USDA. "While the number of families on food stamps has declined over the last five years, the number of families who experience hunger has not changed," said agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman. "It doesn't add up, and that has me concerned."

President Clinton also outlined the proposals last week in an address in Baltimore, MD. He noted that the welfare reform law of 1996 allowed states to make it easier for families to own a car and remain eligible for temporary assistance. But until now, states could use that flexibility to help those receiving cash welfare benefits.

Families receiving in-kind benefits such as child care continued to lose food stamp eligibility if the value of their car exceeded the food stamp program asset limit of $4,650. That forced many families to choose between assistance and a reliable car, Clinton said.