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Dinner is on Me!!!
http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081016/NEWS01/810160393
New York's food-stamp benefits going up
ALBANY -- About 25,000 households outside New York City will receive an average monthly increase in food stamps of $72, based on changes the state made in administering the federal program, Gov. David Paterson announced today.
New York is receiving $150 million more in federal food-stamp money because it expanded eligibility for the Heating and Energy Assistance Program, a separate benefit. That unlocked additional food-stamp funds this month for people who hadn't qualified before. The federal Farm Bill provided another $20 million in new food-stamp benefits, for a total of $170 million higher than last year.
The changes come as the demand for food assistance rises. The number of people seeking benefits grew 30 percent in the past year, according to the Paterson administration.
"During these difficult economic times we must do what we can to ensure that New York's families have the resources they need to feed their families," Paterson said in a statement.
The governor said today the state will provide $1 million in special food-bank aid for low-income New Yorkers. The money will help supply food to the more than two million people who depend on food banks, said John Evers, executive director of the Food Bank Association of New York State.
Nearly 115,000 low-income households that now qualify for the energy assistance program will see an average monthly benefit increase of $118 for food stamps. In New York City, almost 90,000 families will get an average of $131 more a month, compared with $72 for the 25,000 households in the rest of the state.
Based on estimates, just 60 percent of people eligible for food stamps are participating in the program, Sen. Liz Krueger, D-Manhattan, said in a statement.
"Because these are difficult economic times for our citizens, we must re-double our efforts to reach out to people who could be eligible for hundreds of dollars each month in food stamps," she said.
In July, about two million low-income New Yorkers received a total of $221.6 million in food-stamp benefits, state statistics show.
Other changes to the Food Stamp program include:
* Raising the minimum monthly benefit from $10 to $14.
* Eliminating the cap on out-of-pocket dependent-care costs that can be allowed as an income deduction in calculating benefits. This is expected to increase benefits for almost 11,000 households.
* Making permanent the exclusion of military combat pay in calculating benefits.
* Excluding tax-preferred retirement accounts and educational accounts from countable resources for any households still subject to resource limits. (The state eliminated these limits for virtually all households as of Jan. 1.)
"Taken together, these funding increases and policy changes will have an immensely positive impact not only on New York's low-income workforce, but also those who rely on fixed incomes, such as senior citizens and the disabled," Anne Erickson, president and CEO of Empire Justice Center, said in a statement.
Re: Dinner is on Me!!!