UIB $25 add on is now EXCLUDED as income for the Food Stamp Program

Effective in November, the $25 Unemployment Insurance Benefits (UIB) add-on no longer counts as income for food stamp purposes, thanks to a provision in the UIB extension legislation signed into law by President Obama on November 9th.

The $25 add-on is an additional $25 weekly benefit provided to UIB recipients as part of the economic stimulus package – ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) of 2OO9 – enacted earlier this year. ARRA’s provisions allowed the $25 UIB add-on to be excluded for Medicaid but not for food stamps. You may remember back in April some households lost their food stamp benefits due to these additional benefits.

The UIB extension legislation signed by President Obama on November 9th added a provision to exclude this additional $25 from counting as income for food stamp budgeting purposes and was effective upon enactment.

USDA has recently issued a memo to states explaining the change.

It’s our understanding that OTDA is working on implementing this change, and is planning to do a mass rebudget of participating households who are affected. Households currently recieving food stamps and also recieiving the additional $25 UIB weekly benefit should see an increase in their food stamp benefit due to this mass rebudgeting.

We anticipate that OTDA will be issuing some detailed guidance to LDSS/HRA districts fairly soon. Please be aware that many local districts may not know about this new provision yet. As soon as the policy is released, a memo will be sent to you with more details.

Outreach Opportunity: There are some households who may fall between the cracks, because they are not currently receiving food stamps. This provides a wonderful outreach opportunity, especially in light of our upcoming campaign around working families and the newly unemployed.

This outreach will be important to households who:

1) Lost eligibility for food stamps due to the $25 add-on back in April or
2) Was denied food stamps before November 1, 2009, due to the $25 add-on OR
3) Never applied but would be eligible now that $25 add-on is excluded.

The $25 add-on no longer counts as income beginning with the month of November 2009. As you work with families who fall into any of the above categories, please make them aware of this change and encourage them to apply for food stamps.

If you have any questions concerning this change, or any other food-stamp related question, please contact Dawn Secor at (518) 436-8757, ext. 12, or by e-mailing Dawn.Secor@nutritionconsortium.org.