Estimated 25 million to see boost in federal food benefits
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Estimated 25 million to see boost in federal food benefits
About 25 million Americans will be eligible for more money in food assistance under a new policy adopted by Democratic President Joe Biden's administration.
The change announced late Thursday also came after the United States Department of Agriculture reached a SLOT settlement with two California plaintiffs who sued last year after they were blocked from accessing increased benefits approved by Congress because of the coronavirus pandemic. It could mean increased monthly benefits for roughly 1 million Californians.
“This is a real increase in people's benefits that's going to make it a little easier to keep food on the table,” said Lindsay Nako, director of litigation and training at the Impact Fund, which represented the California plaintiffs alongside the Western Center on Law. & Poverty.
Plaintiffs in Pennsylvania have reached a similar settlement with the USDA.
Congress approved emergency benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, sometimes called food stamps, after the coronavirus hit last March. But people already receiving the maximum monthly benefit - meaning the lowest-income households - were not eligible for the increase.
Robin Hall was one of them, and she became a plaintiff in the California case. Hall, who is in her mid-40s, was living in transitional housing in late 2019 and dealing with homelessness as the pandemic began. She has health conditions, including Type 2 diabetes, that dictated her nutrition needs, and she would turn to food banks and other local programs to fill gaps when she ran out of benefits each month. At the time the lawsuit was filed, the maximum monthly benefit payment in California was $ 194. |
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