110,000 in Hawaii to receive
stimulus money for food

Beginning April 1, the $787 billion federal economic stimulus package will help 110,000 island food stamp recipients and the markets where they shop. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance recipients will see their monthly cash benefits increase 13.6 percent. For a family of three, that comes to about $100 more per month.

State Department of Human Services officials said on March 9 that more working people would eventually qualify for aid under the program. Benefits now go to people earning up to 130 percent of the federal poverty guideline – now set at $21,060 for a family of three. The state plans to raise the income limit to 200 percent of the poverty line, but first rules must be rewritten and public hearings must be held.

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance recipients used to receive food stamp vouchers. Now, they use electronic benefits transfer cards. Alcohol, tobacco or luxury food item purchases don’t qualify. About $20 billion will be released through the U.S. Department of Agriculture to recipients across the country.

In Hawaii it will mean an increase of $38 for an individual who now receives the maximum allotment of $276, and an increase of $125 to the current $921 that a family of four receives.

Social agencies believe there are many more people who qualify for the aid but either do not realize it or “are reluctant to apply because they mistakenly regard SNAP as welfare,” said Human Services Director Lillian Koller in a written announcement. Koller said the department would work to bring more people into the “national safety net against hunger.”

The USDA also ordered states to suspend a policy that limited benefits to jobless adults who are able-bodied and without dependents. They are now entitled to full SNAP benefits as long as they comply with training and employment programs. The department also will provide five months of transitional SNAP benefits to individuals who have started earning enough to get off the welfare roll. More than 31 million Americans were receiving food stamps in September 2008, about 10.3 percent of the total population.