Puerto Rico’s version of the food stamp program temporarily will cover more households and provide larger benefits to participants as it recovers from hurricane damage, said the USDA. The maximum benefit for a family of four will rise to $649 as a result of a $1.27 billion line item in the government funding bill passed by Congress earlier this month.
Since 1982, Puerto Rico has operated its anti-hunger program, the Nutrition Assistance Program, as a block grant, which means that its total level of benefits is capped regardless of need. The cap also meant that a more targeted group of recipients received a lower level of benefits than on the mainland. A thumbnail description of NAP says a family of four must have a pre-tax income of less than $5,904 to qualify for benefits. Because the program has a fixed amount of funding, it has far less capacity to respond to disaster than does the food stamp program, which spends more as need rises—as in a recession or in the aftermath of a hurricane.
The USDA said the $1.27 billion appropriation “is intended to augment the assistance available through NAP. This grant specifically recognizes the sustained economic disruption faced by the island.” The USDA said it has provide additional nutrition assistance to Puerto Rico through the WIC program and a distribution last fall of 500,000 boxes of U.S. food to families affected by Hurricane Maria.