Cut in food stamps puts squeeze on recipients
Increases in other payments lead to less money allocated to spend on groceries
Sherry Wolf is among those getting state nutrition assistance benefits who are trying to buy increasingly costly food with less aid.
Wolf received a $22 cost-of-living increase in her federal disability payments in January.
But that good news was short-lived. Because of the increase in her disability payments, her income-based state benefits, better known as food stamps, were cut by $33 a month.
And on June 1, the state’s annual standard utility allowance that determines food benefits changed, lowering her benefits another $12 a month.
That leaves the 56-year-old former nurse and Army veteran on East 22nd Street with a net monthly reduction of $23 in food and disability benefits.
It’s a seemingly small amount except that she is trying to live on a fixed income amid rising gas, food, insurance and other costs.
In addition to regular expenses, Wolf, who receives Medicare and Medicaid, has some expenses related to her depression, fibromyalgia and degenerative discs in her back.
She is supposed to see a specialist in Paducah for her back every two to three months.
“I should move it up, but I can’t afford to,” said a frustrated Wolf, who faces using some of her disability benefits to buy food or borrowing money.
Wolf has sought help from the governor, state legislators and the Salvation Army, Audubon Area Community Services and the Help Office of Owensboro.
And Wolf’s story is not an isolated one.
The Help Office, which provides emergency aid, has seen an influx of people like Wolf in the last two weeks, Executive Director Sharon Sharp said.
“The ones on the fixed incomes are going to be the ones coming to us, and that population is growing,” Sharp said. “The elderly and disabled have no cushion.
“The problem is your food costs have gone up and are going to continue to rise.”
“It’s a severe problem,” said state Sen. David Boswell, a Sorgho Democrat whom Wolf has contacted looking for answers and help.
Boswell is unsure if the problem is a lack of coordination between state and federal governments or if it’s a federal attempt to push aid responsibilities onto states.
The cause may just be bad luck and worse timing.
Each year, the state recalculates the standard utility allowance that food benefit recipients can deduct from their income, which affects how much aid they can get.
The allowance changes every June 1, said Ricky May, manager of the state Department for Community Based Services’ nutrition assistance and accountability branch in Frankfort.
The 2006 amount of $325 was a “substantial increase” over the previous year’s $273, May said.
That’s because the state’s average utility expenses used to determine the allowance were based for the first time on data from the national Consumer Price Index, May said.
The average expenses usually were based on Kentucky average utility expenses from previous years, he said.
The national data showed a 17 percent increase in utility expenses, so the state increased benefits accordingly, May said.
This year, the national index showed a 2.2 percent decrease in fuel and utilities costs, which would have dropped the deduction to $278, he said.
Instead, the state again used Kentucky utility costs, which determined the current allowance of $287 — or just $14 more than the 2005 level, but $38 less than in 2006.
“We didn’t use it (the national index) this year because it would have been a bigger decrease,” May said. “One year, it was a great benefit for recipients by us using it.”
In other words, it could have been worse, he said.
May said he has received a flurry of calls and e-mails about the lowered deduction.
People usually understand after he explains the reason to them, May said.
Understanding it doesn’t create a solution, though.
Boswell thinks the state needs to find a new means of generating revenue, including overhauling its tax code. But he doesn’t know what immediate fixes are available.
“We just have to do what we can to be sure the needs of our people are taken care of,” Boswell said.
Meanwhile, Wolf, who once held two jobs to get by, is trying to figure out how to get her yard mowed — a task she once paid to have done.
“This year, I can’t afford to pay anyone,” she said.
