Saipan food stamp benefits to rise 16 pct.

Saipan families and individuals who use the Nutrition Assistance Program to help put food on the table will see their benefits rise by 16 percent on Jan. 1, 2015.

The Food and Nutrition Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved the increase in a letter to Laura Ogumoro, Secretary of the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs, on Dec. 5.

For a family of four, the maximum food stamp benefit would go up from $444 to $515 per month. Rota and the Northern Islands received an increase of 62 percent earlier this year and Tinian an increase of 28 percent. The changes reflect the differences in the cost of food on each island.

FNS gave the Commonwealth the option of increasing the Saipan benefit from 10 to 16 percent and at the recommendation of Gov. Eloy Inos, Ogumoro chose the largest possible increase.

“Although the economy is improving, there are still many families who need help getting enough to eat,” said Inos. “I want to make sure we give those families all the help we can; in this case, the maximum increase in benefits possible.”

In November, just over 8,000 people benefited from the food stamp program, of which about 7,500 are children, elderly or disabled, or a parent who provides in-home care.

“This is certainly a much welcomed development for many families and individuals on Saipan following the previous increase in benefits on Tinian, the Northern Islands and Rota,” added Inos. “With the holiday season upon us, I’m sure that this increase will give Saipan recipients every reason to look forward to the new year.”

Federal funding for the Nutrition Assistance Program has been on the rise since 2009. Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan set the goal of equal treatment for needy families in the Commonwealth when he was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. In April that year, four months on the job, he was able to convince Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to increase the food assistance grant to the Commonwealth by 13 percent, and later boosted the annual grant to the current $12.148 million.

During his term as lieutenant governor, Inos consistently supported increased federal food aid and worked closely with Sablan to push for greater benefits.

At the same time, the number of people in need of assistance has gradually fallen, resulting in leftover funds.

Since becoming governor, Inos, working together with Sablan, has been directing that excess funds be used to provide more benefits to those in need. DCCA is also using some of the money to improve administrative procedures and technology in preparation for a possible conversion of the local NAP grant to full participation in the national Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.

Participation in SNAP, which is the system now enjoyed by Guam, would double average benefits in the Northern Marianas.

Sablan was able to win a provision in the 2014 Agricultural Act that will make the conversion to SNAP possible. Currently, a study is being conducted to determine what practical changes need to be made in electronic payment processes and other system improvements using $2 million from the Agricultural Act. And beginning in October 2015 more money becomes available to raise benefits: $13.5 million in fiscal 2015 and $8.5 million each in fiscal 2016 and 2017, $32.5 million in all.

“At the end of this five-year pilot program,” Sablan said, “we should be at the point where the Commonwealth can become fully integrated with the national program or some customized program can be established for us. But the important goal is to have the same dollar value of food assistance for people in the Northern Marianas, as Americans anywhere are entitled to.

“And we are moving ever closer to that goal, because of the changes we have been able to get in Washington and because of the partnership we have with Governor Inos and his team doing the work of administering the food program here in the Commonwealth.”

Inos, for his part, vowed to continue working with Sablan to ensure that the food program in the Commonwealth is comparable to the rest of the nation. (Office of the Governor/Office of the Delegate)