Goals for State-Federal Action

The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) strongly supports the state/federal partnership to provide nutrition assistance to those in need. State legislators are concerned about the vast numbers of hungry persons, particularly the severity of the incidence of childhood hunger. The Food Stamps, Emergency Food Assistance, WIC and Child Nutrition programs alleviate and prevent hunger and enable families to improve their health and be more productive at school and at work.

Food Stamps

The Food Stamp Program, designed to assist needy families meet their nutritional needs, has served to improve the health of millions of families and to move toward eliminating malnutrition in the United States.  The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) supports continued federal financial support for the Food Stamp program at levels sufficient to provide assistance to all that are eligible.

NCSL opposes proposals that would impose costly administrative burdens and mandates on state governments and that remove state flexibility that is critical to cost-effective administration of the food stamp program. NCSL also opposes proposals to raise federal funds by capping or restricting the state entitlement to administrative funds. These proposals violate the Unfunded Mandates Act of 1995. NCSL will not support a cap on administrative funds without a commensurate limitation on federal requirements. In 1998, the federal government cut federal funding for food stamp administrative expenses as part of a cost-allocation effort.  However, since TANF program funds cannot be used to administer the food stamp program, this was in effect a cut in the food stamp administrative funds.  NCSL believes that the reduction in the administrative funding level was a barrier to states accepting new state options in the 2002 Farm Bill, and should be restored to its prior level.        

State legislatures are concerned that benefits to recipients not be reduced, that benefits be adjusted to reflect the increased costs of food and other basic necessities and that barriers to participation be removed. NCSL would also urge the Congress and the Administration to continue to work toward making the Food Stamp Program and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) block grant more compatible. NCSL also commends Congress for its efforts to make the Food Stamp Program more accessible to homeless individuals and families. 

The 2002 Farm Bill was an achievement by Congress and the Administration.  The Farm Bill not only provided new federal resources for the Food Stamp Program (an additional $6.4 billion over ten years), but also made a number of program simplifications, and changes in the Quality Control (Q.C.) system.  These were changes that NCSL had long sought.  States were also given new flexibility to improve the program for low-income workers, and benefits were restored to legal immigrants who lost these benefits with the passage of the 1996 welfare law. NCSL applauds the Administration and Congress for strengthening the state/federal partnership in the food stamp program and enhancing and simplifying the coordination of the TANF program and the food stamp program.  State legislators hope to continue this partnership both in implementation of these important changes and continued outreach to those who are eligible.  NCSL urges that the same bipartisan approach in Congress be part of the process of writing the new Farm Bill.    We appreciate the willingness of the Administration to have a dialogue with state legislatures on this legislation. 

Food Stamp Benefits and Program Design

The National Conference of State Legislatures recommends that Congress and the Administration incorporate the following issues regarding food stamp benefits and program access into future action on and implementation of the Food Stamp Act:

• eliminate the cap on excess shelter deductions which would allow families to deduct high shelter costs, however the increase in the cap in the 2001 Appropriations law is a significant improvement;
• raise basic food stamp benefits in stages to 103% of the Thrifty Food Plan;
• exclude the first $50 a month paid as child support from consideration as income in determining the food stamp allotment, which has been improved and simplified as a state option under the 2002 Farm Bill law;
• expand employment and training (E&T) programs to help recipients become self-employed.  We appreciate the removal of the cap on costs for E&T;
• Continue to implement program simplification and coordination between TANF and the Food Stamp program to make them more compatible and less costly to administer.   NCSL opposes attempts to change existing categorical eligibility for recipients of TANF services because of its impact on low income families and because it would increase the administrative complexity of the program;
• Periodically reevaluate the rules concerning the value of a vehicle that a recipient may own and still receive food stamps;
• Continue to adopt administrative improvements and ensure that coordination occurs where welfare reform changes impact food stamp policy and other means of simplification;
• Continue to provide federal funding and technical assistance to reach eligible families, especially those who have left TANF, and working poor families;
• undertake initiatives to improve access to the Food Stamp program and support USDA’s efforts to improve outreach;
• Allow Senior Citizens and the disabled to apply for food stamps at Social Security offices, allow use of joint applications and improve minimum benefits, and
• Support USDA’s efforts to create a web-based screening tool to determine food stamp eligibility and expand technical assistance on applications.

Food Stamps and Legal Immigrants

NCSL congratulates the Administration and Congress for the 2002 restorations of food stamps to eligible legal immigrant children and families.  NCSL strongly opposed the provisions of the 1996 law that denied food stamp assistance to certain legal immigrants.   State legislators identified the 1996 denials as a cost shift to the states and state lawmakers strongly supported these restorations.  Many states created their own food assistance programs or increased state funding for food banks to try to ameliorate the impact of the federal denial of food assistance to legal immigrants.  NCSL commends USDA’s outreach efforts to these newly eligible legal immigrants including the efforts to translate materials into more than 34 languages.  State lawmakers should continue to be included in these efforts.  NCSL continues to support restoring eligibility to the small number of legal immigrants who were not covered under this historic restoration.  NCSL opposes attempts to reverse the progress made in reversing this cost shift, including those in the budget reconciliation bill.

Food Stamp Employment and Training Program

The Congress has enacted a mandatory work program within the Food Stamp program. NCSL is committed to assisting in efforts to make the program a successful one and will work closely with the Department of Agriculture and the Members of Congress to encourage self-sufficiency among Food Stamp recipients. NCSL urges Congress to allow states flexibility to create, fund and integrate the food stamp employment and training programs in order to complement similar programs particularly TANF and the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) and other state programs. At a minimum, a coordinated policy must be developed between this program, welfare reform and the new comprehensive workforce law. NCSL appreciates the flexibility given to states in the use of E and T funding in the 2002 law which applies to the bulk of the funds where state may determine who is eligible. NCSL appreciates that the restrictions on the use of E and T funds for work costs were lifted.

The PRWORA restricted able-bodied, childless adults aged 18-50 to three months of food stamp benefit receipt out of every 36 month period unless they are working or participating in a work program at least 20 hours a week. State legislators have been concerned that these provisions constituted a cost-shift to state and locally funded programs and that there were no funds to provide work slots. NCSL thanks Congress and the Administration for reserving some of the funds in the employment and training program for these able-bodied recipients. We also appreciate the additional flexibility provided to states to exempt 15% of the caseload from the three month rule. In addition, NCSL appreciates the USDA's willingness to grant states waivers of the three month rule in areas of high unemployment and USDA's technical assistance to states.  

Food Stamp Program Quality Control/Judicial Waiver

State legislators fully support the original intent of quality control -- to provide states with a management tool to identify problems in public assistance administration and to facilitate corrective actions. However, many problems in the current system have been documented including statistical flaws and the levying of excessive financial penalties on states. NCSL appreciates the extensive Quality Control changes made in the 2002 Farm Bill.   NCSL applauds the move away from a system based on error rates to one that awards bonuses for accuracy.   This has improved program administration.  The payment accuracy rate is the highest since the program began.  NCSL also urges improvements in the ability to appeal waiver decisions, the placement of statute of a state's right to reinvest claims and the broadening of quality control's scope to include outcome measures of other program goals. State legislators urge Congress and the administration to find more appropriate means of judging program success and measuring program outcomes.  State lawmakers continue to support the funding for bonus payments for state performance.  Unfortunately current bonuses are capped at $48 million, which is lower than previous year’s incentive money.  NCSL would support efforts to focus on measurement through positive incentives and urge Congress to reexamine the funding level.  State legislators urge USDA to continue the sound practice of settling QC claims through state reinvestment in program improvement.

Compliance with Child Support Enforcement

NCSL fully supports the right of every child to be financially supported by both parents and the enforcement of parental support obligations owed by non-custodial parents to their children. However, NCSL is concerned about underfunded, unnecessary and burdensome mandates to states and does not support proposals to mandate child support enforcement cooperation as a condition of eligibility in the food stamp program. NCSL is pleased with the current policy of giving states the option of using this approach.  NCSL urges Congress to seek alternatives to mandating child support enforcement. Additionally, NCSL supports an increase of outreach efforts to include a greater number of recipients in the child support enforcement program. If a mandate were to be enacted, NCSL urges Congress to provide full funding of the increased administrative costs, to address the incentive cap issue and to allow sufficient implementation time for systems to adjust to welfare reform. Additionally, NCSL supports the elimination of the fee for food stamp recipients collection efforts as a further incentive toward child support enforcement participation. NCSL urges the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services and Justice to work together to encourage more vigorous enforcement of child support enforcement orders.

Electronic Benefit Transfer and Automated Systems

Electronic benefit transfer (EBT) is a system of using electronically-encoded cards (such as magnetic-striped ATM cards, "smart cards" or laser technology) to provide recipient benefits through store checkout machines and ATMs. When properly administered, EBT systems can reduce administrative costs, eliminate food stamp coupon trafficking and facilitate multi-program benefit issuance systems. NCSL applauds the 1990 legislation and 1992 regulations that establish the implementation of EBT systems as a normal administrative option for states and supports the widespread interest and planning for food stamp EBT implementation nationwide, and support allowing the card to be used for multiple programs, as a state option.

NCSL believes that states should be allowed to negotiate the terms of EBT with both food marketers and financial institutions. Additionally, the federal government must not preempt state laws that govern financial institutions in their goal of a nationwide EBT system. As additional income support programs are added to EBT systems that are state-only or state-federally governed, the federal government must not preempt state benefits law. State legislators are also concerned about the overestimation of savings by EBT systems. Currently, the federal government recoups savings by eliminating the creation, handling and storage of paper coupons and by fraud reduction. NCSL cautions the federal government from overpromising savings to the states, especially those from fraud reduction, and urges further studies of the impact of EBT on states, including costs and savings from its fraud reduction. NCSL congratulates the federal government for eliminating the cost-neutrality requirements in the EBT system in the 2002 law.   NCSL continues to support enhanced match.  Many of the current systems are obsolete and barriers remain for states to combine their information systems across programs to increase efficiency of program delivery.  This is especially problematic given current state fiscal conditions.

Food Stamp Program Flexibility and Waivers

States currently apply for demonstration authority and waivers of related federal law under section 1115 of the Social Security Act. NCSL strongly believes that the federal waiver process should be reevaluated. States need flexibility for further innovation and state legislators would prefer to have options, rather than waivers for policy changes that are not in need of further evaluation. Too often, state legislators are not included in the reform process until after a waiver is granted by the federal government. In most cases, changes in food stamp policy in welfare reform waiver applications require changes in state law.  Plan approvals and the results of demonstrations should be shared with state legislators.

NCSL strongly supported the provision of the PRWORA that allowed states to apply for waivers of the three month limitation for able-bodied food stamp recipients for areas of high unemployment. State legislators have been pleased with the helpfulness of the USDA in implementing these provisions. In addition, Congress has increased our flexibility by allowing states to set criteria for a further exemption of 15% of the able-bodied adult recipients in the caseload. Such exemptions will assist individuals while they are looking for work as well as local communities and economies.

Emergency Food Assistance and Commodity Distribution

NCSL urges the Congress to fully fund The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) at its authorized level. In addition, the Congress should provide for adequate administrative funds to facilitate the efficient distribution of food and should include sufficient safeguards to prevent program abuse. NCSL urges the Department of Agriculture to make additional surplus commodities available to states, upon request, when additional surplus food becomes available. We also urge USDA to provide administrative funding support for sorting, packaging, processing and transporting donated food.  NCSL supports current federal programs that deliver commodities through farmer’s markets and the child nutrition commodity program.  NCSL also supports the USDA Fruits and Vegetable pilot program aimed at increasing consumption of produce by school children.

Child Nutrition

In 1946, Congress enacted the National School Lunch Act, which provides cash grants and commodity donations to public and private non-profit schools to subsidize the operations of school lunch programs. Since that time, Congress has enacted the following additional child nutrition programs: School Breakfast, Special Milk, Summer Food Service (SFP), Child and Adult Care Food, Nutrition Education and Training Program (NET) and the Special Supplemental Feeding Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). Good nutrition is fundamental to the physical and mental development of children. Recent research on early childhood brain development underscore that adequate nutrition is essential for cognitive development. Moreover, as more parents leave welfare and enter the workforce, the CACFP and SFP are especially critical to the provision of quality child care and afterschool services. These programs augment our successful welfare reform efforts. The National Conference of State Legislatures believes that adequate federal support for these programs is essential.

WIC

NCSL urges Congress to fully fund the WIC program at the levels authorized by Congress. The WIC program provides supplemental food, nutrition education and health care referral services to pregnant women, infants and young children from low-income households who are determined by competent medical professionals to be at nutritional risk. The importance of this program cannot be overemphasized. Nutritional deficiencies during pregnancy or early childhood can result in lasting damage to a child's mental and physical development. The WIC program has been proven effective in reducing the incidence of low birth weight. In addition, this program reduces the need for extensive medical care and thus yields savings in the Medicaid program. This program deserves continued financial support and priority status by the Congress and the Administration.

NCSL applauds Congressional efforts to provide $2 million in grants to states for additional technical assistance for the development of computerized systems for the administration of the WIC program. This will enable states to better monitor program expenditures. The Conference also supports Congressional efforts to improve program administration by authorizing limited borrowing between fiscal years for the WIC program and by requiring the timely apportionment of WIC funds to the states.  

School Breakfast and Lunch Programs

NCSL strongly supports the school lunch and school breakfast programs as critically important to the well-being, education and ultimate future self-sufficiency of young children. State legislators are concerned about proposals to eliminate the cash subsidies to schools for moderate and high income children under the provisions of the school lunch and school breakfast programs. The provision of federally-funded start-up grants would enable many schools with large numbers of low-income children to initiate the school breakfast program. Under the current financing structure for the programs, elimination of the subsidy may force many schools to drop their lunch and breakfast programs. NCSL believes that these programs are important and that schools should be encouraged to continue providing these nutritional meals. Ultimately, the existing financing structure may need to be altered. NCSL recommends that a study be conducted that would consider alternative financing scenarios that would retain program universality. NCSL urges United States Department of Agriculture to pay attention to nutritionally-appropriate foods avoiding those high in sugar, fat and sodium.  School breakfast programs are also an important part of ensuring that children have proper nutrition and are ready to learn, and NCSL supports federal initiatives in this area.  

NCSL notes that accurate eligibility determination is important in any federal program, but efforts to ensure that only eligible children are served must not have a chilling effect on program participation for hungry children. NCSL supports the USDA proposal to create a pilot program for school districts to enable them to provide more nutritious alternatives at schools.  Such a program  would allow such experimentation without risk of financial loss to those schools.

Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) For Children

Children who qualify receive 1/3 to 1/2 of their total early nutrient intake from the school lunch program, yet only one in five of those children who receive lunch at school have the opportunity to receive a summer lunch. NCSL believes that there is value for these children to receive nutritious meals throughout the year. The Summer Food Program is especially valuable as more mothers leave welfare to return to work full-time. The program serves as an additional resource for summer programs to ensure that children are not left unattended and hungry. Therefore, NCSL supports the SFSP and the restoration of meal reimbursement rates that will make it possible for low-income children to receive a nutritious lunch in the summer.  NCSL supports policies that will make it easier for non-profit community groups and public entities to sponsor the program, and will allow the program to be available in more neighborhoods and rural areas. 

Child and Adult Care Food

The child and adult care food program provides assistance to child and adult day care providers so that nutritional meals are provided to children and seniors. State legislators recognize the importance of these programs. These feeding programs are the major federal support of child care and are critical support to low-income children. Proposals to eliminate or reduce this program ignore its valuable contribution to the expansion of child care and reduction of childhood hunger. State legislators strongly support efforts to expand this program to older children in after school programs, and to ensure that the program is available in more neighborhood and rural areas.  Additionally, NCSL supports state options to expand this critical program to suppers in afterschool programs.

Nutrition

NCSL believes that nutrition is important and that both childhood and adult obesity are a social and public health problem. NCSL believes there should be federal efforts to find solutions to this problem without any new federal unfunded mandates.