Lugar Farm Bill Amendment Challenges Priorities

The amendment that I am offering would provide important funding for improvements to the Food Stamp Program and the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP).

 

First, this amendment would increase the Food Stamp asset limit from $2,000 to $3,000 for most households and would increase the asset limit from $3,000 to $4,000 for households with elderly or disabled persons. These asset limits would then be adjusted annually for inflation. The asset limit has not been adjusted for inflation since 1986, but if it had, in 2008, the asset limit would be $3,700 for most households, and $5,500 for elderly and disabled households.

 

Food Stamp beneficiaries need to have encouragement to save and be more financially self-sufficient. The asset limit should, therefore, be reformed to create a stronger safety net for beneficiaries as they transition from welfare to work, and eventually off of the Food Stamp program.  

 

Second, this amendment would increase the minimum Food Stamp benefit from $10 to a level that is 10% of the maximum Thrifty Food Plan benefit for a single person household. In 2008, this would mean that the minimum Food Stamp benefit would be $16, a 60% increase. Because the Thrifty Food Plan is adjusted annually for inflation, so would the minimum benefit value, meaning that Food Stamp beneficiaries would not lose purchasing power over time. The $10 minimum benefit has not changed in 30 years and this provision will bring increased benefits to approximately 758,000 Americans.

Lastly, my amendment would increase funding for the TEFAP program to $250 million annually over 5 years, and then adjust for inflation. Increasing funding for TEFAP is important to the food banks in all of our states, and especially to those in Indiana, as they have increasing demand to provide nutritious meals for low-income, hungry Americans. I recently received letters from Pamela Altmeyer, President of Gleaners Food Bank in Indianapolis, and Jane Avery, Executive Director of Community Harvest Food Bank in Fort Wayne, whose sentiments I am sure resonate with Food Bank operators in your states as well. They informed me that because of declining bonus commodities over the last few years, they have had to reduce their receiving, storage, and transportation services, hours of operation, and amount of food they can provide to hungry families.

This amendment is offset by a $1.7 billion decrease, over five years, in the $26 billion Direct Payment Program. This selective subsidy program, which only goes to certain farmers who grow certain crops, was never meant to be a permanent.