Kitchen: New asset test limits ‘still unsatisfactory’

Gov. Tom Corbett may have loosened the rules on Pennsylvania’s proposed food stamps asset test, but opponents like Sen. Shirley Kitchen, D-Philadelphia, say the effort isn’t enough.

After much outcry from legislators and hunger-oriented nonprofits, Corbett raised the savings limit for food stamp recipients from a $2,000 to $3,000 range to a $5,000 to $9,000 range. The test will evaluate food stamp recipients’ savings and other assets to determine their eligibility for assistance.
“I am still unsatisfied with the administration’s plan to place any asset test on our most vulnerable citizens,” Kitchen said in a press release, “and I will continue to oppose their efforts until DPW abandons this hurtful and counterproductive plan.”

The Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger is concerned about re-instating the test, too, as policy center manager Julie Zaebst tells WHYY/NewsWorks.

The state argues the new proposed limits are higher than those set when the test was last used in 2008.