THE SENATE

S.C.R. NO.

35

TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2002

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES TO ESTABLISH A FOOD ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.

 

WHEREAS, thirty—one million people including twelve million children in the United States do not always have access to enough food to meet basic needs, according to the United States Department of Agriculture’s analysis of the Census Bureau’s annual food security survey; and

WHEREAS, one form of assistance is food stamps, but many individuals are denied access to food stamps because they are not United States citizens, and only thirty-eight per cent of citizen children living with immigrant families are receiving the food stamp benefits for which they are eligible; and

WHEREAS, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 made most non-citizens ineligible for food stamps, but in 1998, Congress partially restored food stamps to select groups of immigrants under the provisions of the Agriculture Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act; and

WHEREAS, immigrants remaining ineligible for food stamps are children who entered the United States after August 22, 1996, adults aged eighteen to sixty-four, immigrants who entered the United States after August 22, 1996, and became disabled or reached the age of sixty-five, and refugees after seven years of residence; and

WHEREAS, following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, many of Hawaii’s immigrants who work in the tourist, travel, and related industries have become either unemployed or were forced to reduce their work hours; and

WHEREAS, ineligible for food stamps, many of these families face insurmountable burdens as they struggle to maintain their homes and provide for their families; and

WHEREAS, a state-funded food assistance program would alleviate hunger and reduce despair in the immigrant community;

and

WHEREAS, what is needed is to restore eligibility to food stamps for qualified immigrant children, disabled immigrants, and immigrants age sixty-five or older, and to establish eligibility for food stamps for citizens of the Compact States of Free Association; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-First Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2002, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Human Services (DHS) is requested to administratively establish a food assistance program to assist immigrants lawfully residing in Hawaii, who:

(1) Are not eligible for assistance under title 8, United States Code, section 1612, but otherwise meets all eligibility requirements of the department’s food stamp program; and

(2) Meet one of the following criteria:

(A) Are legal permanent residents under the age of eighteen who entered the United States after August 22, 1996;

(B) Are legal permanent residents age sixty-five or older who entered the United States after August 22, 1996;

(C) Are disabled legal permanent residents as defined by the department who entered the United States after August 22, 1996; or

(D) Are citizens of a member country of the Compacts of Free Association, including Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Marshall Islands, who are ineligible for food stamps because of the eligibility rules imposed by Title XXI of the Social Security Act in the Federal Balanced Budget Act of 1997 or the Personal

Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996;

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the DHS administer the food assistance program using the same rules with respect to eligibility procedures and benefit levels that are used in administering the food stamp program; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the DHS report to the legislature not later than twenty days before the convening of the Regular Session of 2003 on its progress; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Human Services.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Food Assistance Program; DHS