The Hunger Trap
Owning a $4,650 car cuts off food stamps; that limit is too low

The opinion of the Mercury News
Published Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2001,
in the San Jose Mercury News

A moderate Farm Belt senator, with the Bush administration's backing, is proposing to expand the food stamp program in a way that would make Gov. Gray Davis look like a miser.

Last month, Davis vetoed legislation that would have allowed more families to get food stamps. Many currently can't because of an outdated state law that disqualifies recipients if a car they own is worth more than $4,650 -- essentially if they own anything better than a beater.

The bill Davis vetoed would have raised the value of a food stamp or CalWORKS recipient's car to $15,000. That's about what the current limit, set in 1977, would be worth, were it adjusted for inflation.

All but a half-dozen states have a more generous allowances. Half of the states have waived the entire value of at least one car. That's what Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Indiana, is proposing as part of a significant expansion of the $19 billion a year program.

Food stamps are a federal responsibility, so Lugar's bill wouldn't cost the state any money. A provision to restore food stamp eligibility to legal immigrants would actually save California $73 million a year. On its own, California has borne that cost since Congress cut the money as part of the 1996 welfare reforms.

Food stamp use has fallen sharply nationwide since the adoption of welfare reform five years ago. In California, the case load has fallen nearly in half. In San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, the declines were an astounding 76 and 67 percent respectively, as of June.

An improved economy -- until recently -- is an obvious reason. But another factor is that former welfare recipients erroneously assumed that they weren't eligible for food stamps any longer and stopped applying. Food stamps are vital for the temporarily unemployed and to the working poor in low-paying jobs; the Bay Area suddenly has lots of both.

Lugar included his food-stamp plan in a reform farm bill that would shift subsidies from cotton and grains to other crops, and from corporate to family farmers. The House version omits these changes.

The food-stamp expansion is Lugar's sweetener for support from urban-state senators. It's worth including in any version Congress passes.

© 2001 The Mercury News.