Hunger Relief Act Lives Up to its Name

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has a strong tradition of supporting government programs that fight domestic hunger.

The 208th General Assembly (1996) noted that several past General Assemblies "recognized specifically the importance of federal nutrition programs as part of the path to ending hunger in our nation." The following year, the 209th General Assembly called for the "restoration of the $27 billion cut from the food stamp program in the 1997 budget."

Recent studies have shown that hunger continues to be a significant problem in the U.S. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimated that in 1998, 10.5 million U.S. households did not have access to enough food to meet their basic needs.

The 1999 U.S. Conference of Mayors report on hunger and homelessness surveyed 30 major U.S. cities and found that: "in 92 percent of the cities, emergency food assistance facilities were relied on by families and individuals both in emergencies and as a steady source of food over long periods of time…" Causes of hunger identified by city officials included: high housing costs, unemployment, food stamp cuts, lack of income, and low public assistance benefits.

A Second Harvest national Food Bank Network study noted that "despite an economy that is thriving, a stock market that continues to reach historic heights and reports of welfare reform success stories, 21 million Americans sought emergency food assistance from America's Second Harvest in 1997."

Approximately 4 million American children under age 12 go hungry and about 9.6 million more are at risk of hunger, according to the Community Childhood Hunger Identification Project. This year Congress has the opportunity to help reverse these trends by passing the Hunger Relief Act (HRA) (H.R. 3192/S.1805). HRA would amend two currently existing federal nutrition programs: The Food Stamp program and The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP).

Food Stamp/TEFAP Programs

The Food Stamp program seeks to alleviate hunger and malnutrition for those most in need. Eligibility is based on financial and non-financial factors. Households, except those with elderly or disabled members, must have gross incomes below 130 percent of the poverty line to qualify for the program. Certain low-income legal immigrants are eligible for Food Stamps, while undocumented immigrants are ineligible. Also, many "able-bodied," childless, unemployed adults have time limits imposed on their Food Stamp eligibility.

The average Food Stamp participant receives a benefit of $71 each month that can be redeemed for most foods and seeds or plants that produce food. Food Stamp benefits cannot be used to obtain cash or non-food items.

The federal government pays 100 percent of Food Stamp program benefits and 50 percent of the administrative costs. Households with children receive 80 percent of all Food Stamp benefits. The average length of participation in the Food Stamp program is less than two years. The program will cost approximately $20 billion in FY 2000, about 1.1 percent of the total federal budget.

Under TEFAP, commodity foods are purchased by the USDA, which are then given to states to distribute to select emergency food providing organizations (usually food banks) and/or direct feeding organizations (soup kitchens, homeless shelters, food pantries, etc.) TEFAP is a means-tested program (individuals who consume TEFAP food must be at or below a certain income level). Hence, organizations are only eligible for TEFAP food if they provide food to low-income individuals at no cost. States set their own income level eligibility standards. Congress provided $135 million for TEFAP for FY 1999.

HRA has three provisions that would increase Food Stamp eligibility and benefit levels and one that increases TEFAP funding.

Legal Immigrant Food Stamp Restoration:

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 made all legal immigrants ineligible for Food Stamps. The 209th (1997) General Assembly Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP) report condemned this aspect of welfare reform: "Persons already in this country legally must not be placed in jeopardy by denial of normal services." In 1998, Congress restored benefits to low-income legal immigrants who are children, elderly, or disabled and were in the U.S. as of Aug. 22,1996, and to all low-income members of certain ethnic groups. HRA would restore Food Stamp eligibility to all legal immigrants who meet its income requirements. Doing so makes the program's eligibility, once again, based solely on need.

Vehicle Allowance Increase:

Low-income people often rely on functioning vehicles to get to work and other important places. The current Food Stamp program has a provision called the "vehicle allowance" that limits the value of a vehicle most households can own and still be eligible for Food Stamps. The current vehicle allowance limit is $4650, which has risen by only $150 since 1977. HRA would give each state the opportunity to increase the Food Stamp vehicle allowance by allowing the state's Food Stamp vehicle allowance to be equal to the state's (often higher) Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)'s vehicle allowance limit. Currently 41 states have TANF vehicle allowance limits that are higher than $4650. This provision would help those moving from welfare-to-work (and others) to be able to own a reliable vehicle and still get the Food Stamps they need to supplement their low wages.

Shelter Cost Deduction Cap Increase:

The current Food Stamp program acknowledges the fact that families with high "shelter costs" (rent/mortgage plus basic utilities) have less income to spend on food than families with low shelter costs. The Food Stamp program also provides larger (in terms of cash value) benefits to those with lower incomes. The Food Stamp program's "shelter cost deduction" provision allows households that spend more than half their income on shelter costs to deduct the difference from their gross income. The result is a lower "net income," which is used to calculate that family's benefit level. The lower net income, in turn, qualifies a household for a larger Food Stamp benefit than it would have gotten without the shelter cost deduction. Current Food Stamp policy, however, puts a limit/cap on the shelter cost deduction: currently the cap is $275 per month.

TEFAP Funding Increase: Cuts in public assistance programs are sending more and more people to soup kitchens and food pantries. Ironically, food donations to food banks have been decreasing. TEFAP has provided food to poor Americans through a public-private effort, and increases in the program will help this relationship. This is a concept Presbyterian policy has lifted up: "The church, voluntary organizations, business, and government must work cooperatively to address the needs of poor persons and communities" (209th General Assembly, 1997). HRA would authorize an additional $100 million (approximately 10 percent more than current spending) over the next five years, for commodity purchases and food distribution costs for TEFAP.

Growing Congressional Support

Thanks to the efforts of anti-hunger advocates and the bills' sponsors, HRA has increasingly gained bipartisan support in Congress. As of May 11th, 68 Democrats and 20 Republicans are cosponsoring the House bill, and 22 Democrats and 3 Republicans are cosponsoring the Senate bill. On March 22nd, while a crop insurance bill was being discussed on the Senate floor, several Senators took the opportunity to offer comments in support of HRA.

Sen. Kennedy (D-Mass.) said, "The latest research [on hunger statistics] is clear, and it calls for our urgent action." Sen. Lugar (R-Ind.) observed that the requests for assistance from food banks have increased substantially during the last year. Lugar noted: "A majority of those who were on welfare rolls in Indiana have moved into jobs. But for most of these people, the incomes, on an annual basis, are somewhere in the neighborhood of $10,000, to $15,000." Sen. Daschle (D-S.D.) stated the case most eloquently: "In this time of instant millionaires, it's easy to close our eyes to the fact that people, particularly children, go hungry in this country. But hunger is a fact and it's a national tragedy."

House members have also voiced their support for HRA. For example, Rep. Tony Hall (D-Ohio) stated, "In this time of unprecedented prosperity, the least among us are being left behind…Providing food is one of the least expensive and most effective tools in our arsenal in the continuing war on poverty. Food stamps remain the first defense against widespread hunger in America."

More Action Needed

One challenge to passing the bill as a whole is that some provisions of the bill are more popular than others. The current trend in congress, toward emphasizing welfare-to-work issues, has made the "vehicle allowance" increase popular with both Democrats and Republicans. However, full restoration of Food Stamps for legal immigrants, the "shelter cap deduction" increase and the TEFAP funding increase have been harder to gain support for. The President's budget included full funding for the "vehicle allowance" provision, but left out funding for the shelter cap and TEFAP provisions and only offered enough funding to restore Food Stamps for certain legal immigrants. Also, there are those in Congress who are wary of increasing spending for any welfare related program. In the past, anti-hunger advocates wee told by many in Congress that it was not the time for making changes to food and nutrition programs that increase their costs.

USDA funding for food/nutrition programs has not kept up with other USDA programs; earlier in the Clinton administration nutrition programs made up about two-thirds of the USDA's spending. For FY 2001, nutrition programs will make up only 51 percent of the USDA's budget, the lowest percentage in decades. This year the one thing everyone can agree on is that there is a budget surplus (how much of one is debatable). Anti-hunger advocates must ask Congress, if now is not the time to adequately fund hunger-related programs, when will the time be?"

The cost of the provisions combined with lack of understanding as to their necessity have made getting the bill to move through Congress as a whole nearly impossible. Supporters of the bill are currently discussing strategies to attach HRA's four provisions to other bills to increase their success of being passed this year. It is very important that Congress members and President Clinton are told to support all four provisions of HRA to ensure that they are each fully funded.

Passage of HRA is a much-needed step toward alleviating hunger in the United States. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that it will make 450,000 legal immigrants eligible for Food Stamps and will expand eligibility and/or increase benefit levels for 910,000 households. The Hunger Relief Act has the capacity to make a major difference in the lives of the hungry people that it will impact.

Written by Nancy S. Hatch of the Washington Office, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

Suggested Actions

Contact your Senators and Representatives and ask them to support all four provisions of the Hunger Relief Act (H.R. 3192/S. 1805). If your Congress members have not cosponsored the bill, ask them to do so. If a Congress member has already sponsored or cosponsored the bill, thank them for their support. It is important for Congress members to know when a certain action they have taken has constituent support (especially during an election year). Mention that you are a Presbyterian and that your faith convictions help shape your concerns about hunger and poverty. It is important that members of Congress know that members of the faith community are contacting them.

To find out who the sponsors/cosponsors of a bill are, go to the Library of Congress web site: http://thomas.loc.gov. You can also call your Congress members' office but you may not get an immediate answer. Also, contact President Clinton and thank him for his support of the vehicle allowance provision but also for his support of the other three provisions.

Addresses

Honorable___________
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Honorable__________
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510

President Bill Clinton
The White House
Washington, DC 20500

General Assembly

The 209th (1997) General Assembly in its Resolution on "Welfare and Poverty" stated that "the nutritional and health-care needs of children, youth, mothers, and the elderly require particular attention." It called upon Presbyterians bodies and individuals "to urge the federal government to adopt…restoration of the $27 billion cut from the food stamp program in 1997."

The 208th General Assembly (1996) in its Resolution on "Overcoming Childhood Hunger in the United States" stated that "childhood hunger in the United States is preventable and unacceptable…good nutrition in childhood saves money…and the federal government has a legitimate and necessary role in setting nutrition standards and providing resources to assure that all children in the United States have access to a nutritionally adequate diet." It noted that the General Assembly in 1976k 1984 and 1995 recognized the importance of federal nutrition programs.

Information

If you would like to join our list serve network and get special alerts, please send an e-mail message to washhunger-request@pcusa.org and include in the message, the word: subscribe.

For more on the Food Stamps and/or TEFAP programs, click here.

Also, you can visit the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC)'s web site at www.FRAC.org and Bread for the World's web site at www.bread.org.