Asset Test for Food Stamps in Pa.
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Hour 2
The Corbett administration plans to begin asset-testing for food stamp recipients in Pennsylvania this May. Individuals and families with more than $2000 in savings or assets and seniors with assets worth $3250 would no longer be eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. The number of Americans who receive food stamps is at an all time high with nearly 46 million Americans, 1.8 million Pennsylvanians, enrolled in the benefit. The Department of Public Welfare has said that a means test is needed to prevent fraud and abuse of the SNAP program while others argue that the initiative would hurt many needy people in tough economic times and punish people for trying to save. This hour, we take a closer look at the issue with LOURDES PADILLA, deputy secretary for the Office of Income Maintenance at Pennsylvania’s Department of Public Welfare; CAREY MORGAN, executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger, and TAD DeHAVEN, budget analyst on federal and state budget issues for the Cato Institute.
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[audio: 012012_110630.mp3]
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