Director, D.C. Hunger Solutions Council of the District of Columbia Public Oversight Roundtable on Economic Recovery Plan

Nothing stimulates the economy like food stamps. Each dollar of federal food stamp benefits flowing into a local economy generates about double that in economic activity. In the stimulus debate, conservative as well as liberal economists, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bernanke, recent Treasury Secretaries, and many more experts touted increased Food Stamp Program spending as, dollar-for-dollar, just about the most effective way to stimulate the economy. Food stamp benefits are one hundred percent federally funded, with states bearing about fifty percent of administrative costs. And, a California study revealed that a state's share of the administrative costs is mostly recouped from sales tax increases (i.e., food stamps allow recipients to free up some monies to purchase taxable necessities like clothes, detergent personal hygiene items, etc.). Food stamps get more resources quickly into the hands of the people most likely to quickly turn around and spend money to buy food. The final stimulus plan package will almost certainly include millions of federal dollars to bolster the District's Food Stamp Program (recently renamed as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program "SNAP") by: • Increasing the monthly food stamp/SNAP allotment • Helping with the administrative cost of growing caseloads The District can prepare for this infusion of federal food stamp funding by ensuring that all food stamp households expeditiously receive the allotment boosts. While SNAP stimulus administrative dollars will help with administrative costs, the District should support the Income Maintenance Administration so that agency staff are prepared for the growing number of food stamp cases. To that end, the District should prioritize funding for sufficient staffing levels for processing the growing number of food stamp cases and reprogramming computer systems to ensure that all eligible residents get their increases immediately. As many food stamp clients likely will be calling with questions related to benefit increases, the District should work with its EBT vendor to prepare for increased calls and to update the call line with accurate information. The District also should conduct aggressive food stamp outreach to reach growing numbers of hungry people and