Dick Armstrong
Idaho Department of Health and Welfare Director Dick Armstrong favors waiving the asset test for food stamps another year.
Idaho last year waived the requirement for people to drain their assets to less than $2,000 to be eligible, not wanting to force the newly unemployed to unload assets at pennies on the dollar just to qualify.
Lawmakers this session approved keeping the waiver for the federal nutrition program until at least the end of May, but after that, no decision has been made.
If it were up to Armstrong, he says he’d dump the asset requirement again, because Idaho’s statewide unemployment is 9.2 percent and there’s uncertainty about the economic recovery’s strength.
There are about 179,000 Idaho residents receiving the benefits now, averaging about $130 worth of food stamps monthly. (AP)
