- 1,500 families may lose food stamp benefits, By James Rufus Koren, January 23, 2010, Contra Costa Times: “Nearly 1,500 San Bernardino County families could lose some or all of their food stamp benefits if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s latest budget recommendation goes through. Troublingly, some groups say, families who stand to lose state-funded food stamps might not know they have those benefits until they’re gone. ‘The constituency who receives this are unaware of it in a way that would allow them to mobilize to fight it,’ said Matthew Sharp, who works with the nonprofit group California Food Policy Advocates. ‘The benefits are invisible to the client.’ In a Jan. 8 budget presentation, Schwarzenegger recommended eliminating the California Food Assistance Program, which provides food stamp benefits to legal U.S. residents who have not lived in the U.S. long enough to receive traditional federally funded food stamps. While the California Food Aid Program and the federal food stamps program – also called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP – are separate, Californians essentially apply for both programs when they apply for food stamps…”
- More Idahoans on food stamps than ever, By Brian Murphy, January 26, 2010, Idaho Statesman: “A record number of Idahoans are receiving food stamps, a sign that the state’s economy still struggles. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare is processing 9,000 new food stamp applications each month, said Tom Shanahan, a department spokesman. More than 176,600 people are enrolled in the program – more than double the 2007 level. ‘We’re setting records every month,’ Shanahan said. ‘Food stamps are a good indicator of the number of people living near poverty. We’re seeing the effects of layoffs and high unemployment.’ Idahoans typically are reluctant to accept government aid, and the state has a relatively low rate of eligible people applying for aid. Around 60 percent of eligible people actually apply for aid, Shanahan said. A department official testified to lawmakers last week that 33 percent of people applying for help in the last two years had never applied before…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty