Honolulu Weekly

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program / Feeding the needy—and using federal money to do it—is but one piece of this legislative session’s Senate Majority Package, which emphasizes social services, health care, education and renewable energy.

“In these economic times, we have a responsibility to keep the safety net as strong as we can,” said state Sen. Gary Hooser, D-Kauai, leader of the Senate’s Democratic Majority.

To that end, Hooser says he plans to introduce a bill that would make it easier for Hawaii residents to get federal food stamps—now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.

Some $67 million in federal SNAP money currently goes unused each year in Hawaii, in part because state eligibility regulations are stricter than what the federal government requires, said Judy Lenthall, executive director of the Kauai Food Bank. Lenthall said she made Hooser aware of that situation in what he termed a “serendipitous” meeting on a flight from Kauai to Honolulu.

As a result, Hooser agreed to sponsor a bill that directs the state Department of Human Services (DHS), which administers SNAP locally, to drop an “income asset test” restriction that prevents those with assets valued at more than $2,000 to $3,000 from qualifying for aid.

Lenthall said the proposed legislation reflects a national trend to eliminate asset restrictions based on new studies that show “giving people a hand up means you shouldn’t strip them to zero and expect them to become upwardly mobile.”

The bill also requires DHS to accept a shorter application form and change its rules to conduct interviews with applicants over the phone, instead of solely in person.

Both Hooser and Lenthall said the bill would make it easier for the elderly, working people and those without transportation to successfully apply for SNAP.

“Many people, through no fault of their own, need a little extra help, and this bill is intended to provide that,” Hooser said. “With our declining economy, there will be many more people in need.”

Lenthall said the bill also would reduce the burden on local food banks, which are experiencing a much greater demand due to the current economic downturn.

“While we’re scavenging for crumbs, we have a banquet feast that goes untapped in the food stamp program,” Lenthall said. “So we’re tapping it, baby, we’re tapping it.”

While the bill aims to ease some of the stigma associated with applying for aid by eliminating the requirement to make a personal visit to the welfare office, Lenthall said the general public also needs to shift its thinking about SNAP.

“It’s not a hand out, it’s an economic stimulus,” she said. “Every $5 in federal food stamps generates $9.20 in local economic development because people are shopping in stores and supporting local businesses.”

The Kauai County Office of Economic Development recognized that potential last year, Lenthall said, when it gave the Kauai Food Bank a $58,000 grant to conduct an outreach program to boost SNAP enrollment.

The Food Bank used the money to hire a coordinator who essentially pre-qualified SNAP applicants to make it easy for seniors to get aid and reduce the work load of the Kauai DHS office. As of Jan. 15, Lenthall said, the Kauai Food Bank had brought in new SNAP revenues of $271,811, with an economic benefit to the county of $500,132.

The Kauai Food Bank is currently conducting similar training for the Maui County Food Bank, and Lenthall said DHS also will be ramping up its outreach efforts, which are partially reimbursed by the federal government.

Lenthall initially approached DHS about changing its eligibility requirements and was dismayed to learn it could take two years for such revisions to go through the administrative rules process.

“I said, I think some of our seniors are gonna be dead by then, and they’re gonna die hungry,” she recalled.

The agency then told her the process could be accelerated if the Legislature passed a law, so when she happened to spot Hooser on a flight from Lihue to Honolulu, she ignored her assigned seating, sat down beside him and won his support to champion such a bill.

“I’m calling 2009 the year of the food stamp in Hawaii,” Lenthall said.