Christie Rejects Food Aid Giving $54 for Each $1 Paid [View all]

[xchrom]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-15/christie-rejects-food-aid-giving-54-for-each-1-paid.html



Three states are ending a program that qualified residents for extra food paid for by the federal government -- including two, New Jersey and Wisconsin, that are led by potential Republican presidential candidates.

Congress in February passed a law to raise the costs of so-called heat-and-eat programs. Such initiatives had allowed states to give residents as little as $1 a year in home-heating assistance to qualify for an average of $1,080 a year in added food stamps. The new minimum state contribution is $20 per household a year, and Chris Christie’s New Jersey, Scott Walker’s Wisconsin as well as Michigan are taking a pass.

Christie said a proposal to let New Jersey participate in the program didn’t require recipients to show they needed heating assistance, a violation of new federal guidelines.

“Distribution of benefits without regard to actual heating and cooling expenses as envisioned in this bill is clearly impermissible,” Christie wrote to the state’s General Assembly in vetoing a measure to qualify the state for a program that gives $54 in federal money for every $1 the state spends.