Food stamp bill allows savings

By Martha Stoddard, Omaha World Herald
March 3, 2011

LINCOLN — Nebraskans using food stamps might have a better chance of getting ahead under a bill advanced by the Legislature Thursday.

Senators amended Legislative Bill 543 to eliminate a $2,000 limit on savings accounts of food stamp applicants.

The change means people would qualify for what is now the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program based on income and other requirements. Their assets would no longer be considered in determining eligibility.

State Sen. Jeremy Nordquist of Omaha, who proposed the amendment, said the change would be good for struggling Nebraskans and for the state.

Current state policy forces people to spend down savings that could help them improve their situation, he said.

Nordquist said the change would make a difference for people like the woman who called his office recently.

The woman’s husband left her and their 17-year-old son, Nordquist said, and they couldn’t qualify for food stamps because of the $5,000 her son had saved toward his college education.

“This is good policy, because it simplifies the program and allows people to try to work their way out of poverty and to build assets,” Nordquist said.

He said the change also would simplify administration of the food stamp program because workers no longer would have to review a family’s assets.

Opponents of the amendment said it would allow people with substantial savings to qualify for food stamps.

Sen. Dave Bloomfield of Hoskins asked whether that mother and 17-year-old son should qualify for food stamps if the boy had accumulated $100,000 or $1 million in savings.

“Is there a point at which a family should be responsible?” he asked.

Omaha Sen. Heath Mello said it was unlikely such a family would apply for food stamps.

To qualify, a family cannot make more than 130 percent of the federal poverty level — or $29,055 for a family of four. Families must fill out a 30-page application detailing their finances and wait a month for processing, all for a benefit worth $1.12 per meal per person, Mellow said.
“You find me some one who’s going to go through that trouble, that pain” if they have money, he said.

Nordquist said many of the assets mentioned by opponents already are excluded when determining eligibility. Among them are a home, household furniture, vehicles, business or agricultural equipment and land used in a business.

Thirty-six states have eliminated asset limits, as the amendment to LB 543 would do.

LB 543 also would require the state to develop an outreach plan to encourage people eligible for food stamps to apply for them. The outreach program would be funded with private dollars.

Food stamp benefits are financed with federal dollars, but the state shares in the cost of administering the program.

One in six Nebraskans reported not having enough money to buy food during the previous year, according to a newly released report by the Food Research and Action Center. The report was based on a 2010 survey.