Food stamp distribution reform necessary

As you may know, our firm Sullivan Reberger Eiguren assists the Northwest Grocery Association. We have been helping them with a bill, now moving through the legislative process, that would spread food stamp distributions throughout the month.

The “stamps” are actually plastic magnetic-stripe cards that are electronically replenished. The food stamp program (formally, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), used to stagger its benefit disbursements over the first five days of the month, but moved to the first of the month in 2009 to save money.

It might seem like a trivial issue, but it’s not. This story in the Idaho Statesman sums up the situation well. The result has been chaos and wasted food. People swamp some stores on the first of the month – in some cases, 74 percent of a store’s daily sales are from food stamp customers.

Consequences include long lines, overtime, extra transportation and wasted food because customers simply walk away from their carts, rather than wait up to 45 minutes in line. These problems are costing Idaho’s WINCO stores over $250,000 per year and then there is the lost business from customers who avoid shopping on the 1st of the month. Merchants are understandably concerned about people having negative, stressful experiences at their stores.

The poor economy is making the crowding worse. In 2007, 87,000 people were enrolled in the food stamp program. Now, that number is 227,000.

We are proposing a bill that would stretch out the disbursements over the first five days of the month. We have met with the Governor twice, with the Director of Health and Welfare five times and with key legislators several times. A bill has been introduced in the House Commerce and Human Resources Committee to provide a five day distirbution period. Discussion with the grocery industry, the Governor’s Staff, the Director of Health and Welfare and key legislators are on-going in an effort to resolve this signficant problem.

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