DCCA chief raises issues with NMI’s inclusion in SNAP

A preliminary comparative report between the current Nutrition Assistance Program in the Commonwealth and the national Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program showed that legal immigrants will become eligible to receive benefits from the CNMI’s inclusion in the national food stamp program.

The report, prepared by the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs and submitted to Senate President Paul A. Manglona, showed that since eligibility for SNAP “is based on financial and non-financial factors,” legal immigrants who have legally resided in the U.S. for at least five years—including “children or disabled”—will be able to receive food stamp benefits.

“This means that these people [legal immigrants residing in U.S. for five years or more] would be eligible to receive food stamp. Is this something we’re willing to undertake?” asked DCCA Secretary Melvin Faisao to Manglona.

Additionally, the report also showed what the Fitial administration had argued since talks about the islands’ inclusion in the national food stamp program began: that the local government will have to shoulder half of the total administrative costs in contrast to the current program which is “100 percent federally funded.”

“We are uncertain at this time to how and where to get the adequate local funding to support the implementation of an enormously expensive Eligibility System which can interface with the Electronic Benefit Transfer System and build the infrastructure necessary for the implementation of SNAP at this time of economic challenge,” wrote Faisao.

Inclusion in the national program would also result to the increase in maximum gross monthly income per household based on size to meet national levels. For example, the current maximum gross monthly income for a household of four in the CNMI is $933. For the 48 states, D.C., Guam, and Virgin Islands, maximum income is $2,422.

The requirement in the local program to set aside 30 percent of monthly benefits to purchase locally produced commodities will also be removed with the inclusion to the SNAP since no such requirement exists under the national program.

Faisao also noted that state reporting requirements under SNAP “are more complex” compared to the existing requirements in the local program.