Food stamp recipients seeing smaller checks since Nov. 1

Individuals who use Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits began seeing $11 less per month as of Nov. 1, when a 2009 stimulus bill expired.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provided the USDA $19.8 billion for food stamp benefits to strengthen food assistance in response to the recession. Those benefits expired Nov. 1 for about 47 million Americans who participate in the program.

Those individuals may see more cuts soon. The U.S. House of Representatives voted to cut about $40 billion over 10 years for the SNAP portion of its version of the farm bill. The U.S. Senate proposed a cut of about $4 billion to the program over the next decade. The cost of the program has more than doubled during the last five years as the economy struggled, and Republicans say it should be more focused on the neediest people.

About 933,000 people use food stamp benefits in Missouri, according to the Missouri Food Bank Association's website.

In 2012, 738 food stamp applications were received in Cape Girardeau County, and 515 were approved, according to the Missouri Department of Social Services' annual data report. About $16.2 million in annual benefits, almost double that of 2007, was given to about 5,100 households and 10,700 individuals receiving benefits in Cape Girardeau County.

In 2007, before the recession, 708 food stamp applications were received in Cape Girardeau County, and 510 were approved, according to the annual data report, nearly identical to 2012. About $8.8 million in annual benefits, was given to about 3,700 households and 9,700 individuals receiving benefits in Cape Girardeau County.

The amount of benefits depends on many things, including income, household size and expenses, Rebecca Woelfel, communications director for the Missouri Department of Social Services, said in an email.

A household of one in 2008 with no income received about $176 per month in food stamp benefits, and until this month, they received about $200 in monthly benefits, according to a table Woelfel provided in the email. A household of one with no income now will receive about $189 in benefits -- $11 less a month. A household of four in 2008 with no income received about $588 in benefits, and $668 after the stimulus bill. As of Nov. 1, the family of four now receives about $632 -- $36 less a month.

Less food stamp benefits means less food those who use benefits can afford. It also potentially means more people visiting food pantries.

Tina Rodgers, case manager for the Salvation Army in Cape Girardeau, said she recently has seen an increase in clients of the Salvation Army pantry.

"We've been seeing a lot of new people that we haven't been seeing before," including younger adults and more middle-aged clients, Rodgers said Monday.

Elderly people receive little food stamp benefits, she said, and some will deem benefits not worth the time or trouble for the amount they now will receive.

About 20 to 30 people visit the pantry every day, Rodgers said. Clients are allowed one visit a month, and an additional visit for commodities.

"I'm sure it has hit hard on our clients," she said of the about 5 percent reduction in food stamp benefits.

After a spree of empty shelves at the food panty at the beginning of the month, Rodgers said there is food back on the shelves, and the pantry is open again for those in urgent need of food.

The Salvation Army Pantry will resume its regular hours of 9 a.m. to noon Monday, Wednesday and Friday after Christmas, she said.

Until then, the pantry is not turning anyone away, but staff is trying to discourage the taking of food unless it is absolutely needed so as to stretch the pantry's supply, Rodgers said.

One way to combat the problem is to teach those with food stamp benefits how to supplement their income, she said. Raising tomatoes or canning produce to sell are some ways Rodgers said the Salvation Army staff hope to teach clients to supplement their income.

Joyce Wallenberg, Southeast Missouri Food Bank's coordinator for SNAP, on Wednesday said those who use the program now are hurting more than they already were.

Taxpayers may be tired, but the need still is there, she said.

Wallenberg so far has taken one call from an individual who noticed a reduction in benefits, but she is not sure many more people will realize the cut. Many individuals who use SNAP benefits do not understand it, she said.

"It happened and it hurts," Wallenberg said.

U.S. Rep. Jason Smith has said he does not believe all those on food stamps should qualify for benefits, which is why he passed a bill that would cut SNAP funding.

"The way the food-stamp program has grown is unsustainable," said U.S. Rep. Jason Smith in a previous interview with the Southeast Missourian. "This program was there to help those who needed it the most, but it's doing a lot more than that now."

The next step toward passing a farm bill with the SNAP component is conferees from both chambers agreeing to a conference report, or final version of the farm bill that is negotiated between conferees. The bill then is sent to both chambers for an up-or-down vote, and no amendments are allowed.

If both chambers approve the bill, it goes to the president for his signature. If they do not, the bill goes back to conference.

ashedd@semissourian.com

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Pertinent addresses:

701 Good Hope St., Cape Girardeau, MO

3920 Nash Road, Cape Girardeau, MO