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Study on SNAP program for NMI nears completion
A study on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for the CNMI is nearing completion with a draft report expected in October.
Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) said the SNAP Pilot Program I includes $30.5 million in benefits for three years beginning this October.
This fund is in addition to the annual $12.148 million block grant that the CNMI receives to help families put food on the table.
Sablan, who included the pilot program in the Agricultural Act of 2014, said a team from Insight Policy Research, the consulting group hired by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has been looking at how to bring the Northern Mariana Islands into the national food stamp program of the federal government.
During their final data gathering visit to the Commonwealth recently, the researchers briefed the congressional office on their progress.
The SNAP feasibility study is nearing completion, after six years of work to bring the full benefit of the national program, Sablan said.
Fieldwork is finished and Insight Policy Research can now begin drafting their report on what the CNMI’s SNAP Pilot Program will look like, he added.
A draft report is due this Oct. 1 and a final report to Congress is due on Feb. 7, 2016.
“Whether Insight Policy Research recommends that the CNMI join the national SNAP program or create some hybrid system that better fits our islands, the Agricultural Act also made available $30.5 million over three years to increase food stamp benefits,” the lawmaker said.
Sablan added that the law mandates that the first of that money, $13.5 million, be made available in fiscal year 2016, which begins on Oct. 1.
Another $8.5 million follows in both fiscal 2017 and 2018. All that money is on top of the annual $12.148 million the Commonwealth has been receiving, he said.
The CNMI’s NAP, meanwhile, reported that the local food stamp program issued a total of $9.09 million worth of benefits last year.
The amount was divided among Saipan, Rota, Tinian, and the Northern Islands. A total of $8.07 million was issued for Saipan, $482,317 went to Tinian, $513,875 went to Rota, and $17,932 was issued for the Northern Islands.
