GOP candidate Newt Gingrich raised eyebrows when he called President Barack Obama to task for creating a "food stamp nation." A CNN Money report estimated 45.8 million recipients of food aid nationally as of August. The cost of food at local supermarkets across the nation is astonishing for older folks with longer memories of food and commodity prices. Younger people tend to accept the prices in effect when they come of an age to care about prices.
In Pennsylvania, Republican Gov. Tom Corbett was criticized Tuesday by Philadelphia City Paper for a "major assault on the food stamp program." The asset test was implemented as a way to combat food stamp fraud, according to WFMZ News. Let's look at some facts:
* Pennsylvania's "food stamp" program is termed SNAP, for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
* Pennsylvania has 1.8 million people receiving food stamps. According to the Philadelphia Daily News, 439,245 people receive food stamps in Philadelphia, less than the 630,196 people eligible to receive them.
* In Pennsylvania, there is no longer any such thing as "food stamps" in the literal sense. The actual stamps could be too easily traded for cash, drugs or other unintended goods and services.
* Persons receiving food assistance in Pennsylvania receive an electronic benefit transfer card into which dollar amounts are deposited electronically each month.
* Most electronic card readers in supermarkets accept the "swipe" cards given to SNAP recipients in the same way they accept credit or debit cards.
* The amount of funds deposited depends on the number of persons in the family unit and also on family income. Former Gov. Ed Rendell eliminated savings and asset eligibility standards for SNAP in 2008.
* The most common type of food stamp fraud is by redeeming food stamp grant amounts for cash. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports the common technique of ringing up a nominal amount on the EBT food stamp card and then receiving part of the amount back in cash.
* Pennsylvania's new food assistance eligibility requirement will begin May 1. To be eligible for SNAP, persons younger than 60 can have no more than $2,000 in savings accounts. Those older than 60 or disabled can have $3,250 in savings.
* Pennsylvania's SNAP program will pay for food and nutritive products (e.g, Gatorade) only, not such things as paper, tobacco or cleaning products.
* With the restored savings account eligibility requirements, Pennsylvania has rejoined 11 other states with asset restrictions.
* For practical reasons, there are no restrictions on the price of food items. Filet mignon or lobster may be purchased as well as hamburger, but purchase of more expensive items subtracts more quickly from the amount of the total individual grant.
* In 2010, the federal government set a new food stamp record spending $68.2 billion on food stamp programs with $2.3 billion going to Pennsylvania. The figure represents an increase of 30 percent over the previous year, according to the Allentown Morning Call.
Anthony Ventre is a freelance writer who has written for weekly and daily newspapers and several online publications. He is a frequent contributor to Yahoo! in news pertaining to Pennsylvania.
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