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States Welcome Reports of Restoring Food Stamp Benefits to Legal Immigrants

WASHINGTON, D.C. - State legislators welcomed news reports today that the Bush administration is considering a restoration of food stamp benefits to legal immigrants.

The passage of the historic 1996 Welfare Reform Act stripped more than 800,000 legal immigrants of their food stamp benefits. As a result of Congress' actions, many states have borne the cost of providing those benefits. While the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) supported the 1996 law, legislators expressed strong reservations over the food stamp provision.

"The denial of food stamps and other services to legal immigrants resulted in a huge cost shift to the states," said New York Senator and NCSL President Stephen Saland. "The federal government abdicated their responsibility to fund the consequences of federal immigration policy."

17 states restored nutritional assistance benefits to all or some of the refugees and legal immigrants made ineligible by the 1996 law at a great expense to state coffers.

Here are a few examples:

* During fiscal year 2000, Minnesota's Food Assistance Program served 9,914 cases at a cost of more than $1 million.

* The California 2000-2001 budget included $51.1 million for the California Food Assistance Program.

* During fiscal years 2000 and 2001, Massachusetts appropriated more than $16 million to fund its State Supplemental Food Stamp Program.

In addition to those states who provide formal nutritional assistance, many others have appropriated resources to food banks and other charitable programs that address the needs of the legal immigrant population.

"The administration's proposal comes at an opportune time for states," concluded Senator Saland. "By removing this burden from state budgets, the federal government would ensure that the nutrition benefits for legal immigrants remain intact despite the grim state fiscal outlook and imminent state budget cuts."

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