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Submitted by TheLowDown on Thu, 08/02/2007 - 1:12pm.
MFP Tags: acs, daniels, farm bill, Food, fssa, ibm, Indiana, Lugar, mitch, Pence, private, privatize, program, roob, Stamp, welfareTopics: Politics

Mitch Daniel's Attempt to Privatize Indiana's Food Stamp Program

By now everyone has probably heard that a part of the farm bill now moving through congress will make it illegal for Indiana's food stamp program to be privatized. The food stamp program is a federal one, funded by the federal government. and the federal government should decide how food stamps are administered, not the state. Mitch Daniels knew this going in and it was Mitch who tried to exploit a loophole in the rules of the food stamp program by having private workers interview clients for foodstamps, but having state workers authorize clients for food stamps.

If it sounds a bit confusing and nonsensical, that's because it is. Mitch was instructed not to do this in the first place and he ignored those instructions. All the federal government is currently doing is closing that loophole, by making sure that only government employees can interview and authorize federal food stamps. That is what makes sense to most people and that is why this part of the farm bill will most likely remain and the bill will certainly pass. Yes, the president has threatened to veto the bill, but that is unlikely. Even if he does veto it, he is not rejecting it because of the food stamp privatization issue and any future version of the bill will likely contain the same language on the food stamp program.

Also, be clear that this was all simply an attempt by Mitch to save money by giving new welfare case workers, who are just starting out, poor health benefits and no pension plan. If you don't believe that then interview a new private case worker and ask her about her benefits. It is sad that these important welfare employees are being treated this way and hopefully the federal government continues their path to changing it back to the way it should be.

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kpaul.mallasch's picture

Hearty welcome to TheLowDown

Submitted by kpaul.mallasch on Thu, 08/02/2007 - 1:13pm.

MFP's newest member. Good first blog post!

Hope to see more from you as time permits.

-kpaul

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kpaul.mallasch's picture

Comment from Lois Rockhill

Submitted by kpaul.mallasch on Fri, 08/03/2007 - 11:21am.

This is a comment from Lois Rockhill, Exec. Director of Second Harvest Food Bank of East Central Indiana:

 

The tough thing here is that our national network, America’s Second Harvest, has put up a tremendous effort to get the Farm Bill passed with a strong nutrition program which, among other things, invests $4 billion over five years to improve Food Stamp Program benefits and access, and raises funding for The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). What I wasn’t aware of was the piece of the bill that makes privatization illegal. Not only will it effect Indiana’s privatization but will prohibit not-for-profits from doing food stamp outreach. We see this as negative because some good work has gone into establishing model programs that allow people to be issued Food Stamps at the pantry level. We think that before the bill gets to the President, the language will be altered to allow this work to continue but probably will not pertain to Indiana privatization via for-profits. Personally, I think we need to do what we can to increase Food Stamp usage – the program makes all the difference for families struggling to make ends meet. I have heard that 60% - 75% of those eligible in Indiana for Food Stamps use them. If we could increase that percentage we would take some of the weight off the local food pantries that see more and more people at their doors for food assistance. There are many strategies for increasing Food Stamp usage including simplified enrollment, more accessible enrollment locations and a higher minimum of stamps. We thought privatization would accomplish some of this and had seen increased participation in the Food Stamp program with active outreach at the pantry level. I hate to see privatization hit a brick wall at this stage – lots of money invested, lots of change for FSSA employees and we won’t get those things back.

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