Expect Food Stamp Reductions April 1st

No Joking Matter

March 17, 2011

Author: Barbara Weiner

Food stamp law 1 requires annual adjustments to the standard utility allowance (SUA).  The SUA, along with rent or mortgage payments and certain other shelter related deductions, are subtracted from a food stamp household’s income to determine the amount of the food stamp grant for which the household is eligible. For the first time in memory, the SUA adjustments scheduled to go into effect on April 1 of this year will result in a reduction in the food stamp benefits for many households, particularly those with elderly or disabled members.

New York’s current SUA was set in July of 2008, when energy prices were at their highest level in years.  By 2009, prices had dropped significantly. An adjustment of the SUA to reflect the reduction in energy costs in 2009 would have meant significant reductions in food stamp allotments in 2010.  To avoid this result, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) offered states a one time waiver of the annual adjustment requirement, which New York and several other states accepted.  A waiver was offered again this year by USDA but only to states that had not taken advantage of the first waiver. Thus New York, along with several other states, is not eligible for a waiver this year. To soften the blow, USDA issued two 3-month extensions so New York’s current SUA levels, set in 2008, were continued in effect until March 31, 2011.  Beginning on April 1, food stamp grants will reflect the new and lower SUA.

Over the past several months, New York’s Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) has been in the process of developing a methodology for adjusting the SUA that would soften the impact of the coming SUA adjustment as much as possible. Using July 2008 as a base month and adjusting that number by the Consumer Price Index, OTDA was able to minimize the reduction of SUA amounts to 8.1 percent.  The impact on households food stamp benefits will be less than $20 a month.

The changes in the SUA from the current level to the new level effective April 1 are as follows:

• For New York City, the SUA deduction will drop from $781 to $718
• For Long Island, the deduction will drop from $727 to $669 and
• For the rest of state, the deduction will go from $645 to $593.

The Level 2 allowance for the small minority of households eligible only for a utility allowance (households that pay no rent and have no heating costs but pay for domestic utilities) is also decreasing; level 3, the phone allowance (for homeless households) will not change.

The food stamp households that are most likely to face the full impact of the SUA reductions in their food stamp grant are those households with elderly or disabled members.  This is because only these households are able to take full advantage of the SUA and other shelter related deductions because they are not subject to the excess shelter deduction maximum.  The SUA changes will also have an effect in the New York State Nutrition Improvement Project (NYSNIP), the automatic food stamp enrollment program for SSI recipients who live alone. In New York City, SSI recipients with other income and low shelter costs will suffer a $4 a month reduction.  In upstate New York, SSI recipients with low shelter costs, both those with and without other income, will suffer a $16 a month reduction.

OTDA announced the new SUA levels and updated NYSNIP payment matrix through a General Information System (GIS) memo to local districts, 11 TA/DC004, which you can download via the Online Resource Center at http://onlineresources.wnylc.net/welcome.asp?index=Welcome. 

1  See 7 C.F.R. Section 273.9(d)(6)(iii)(B).