Andrew Friedman

Bloomberg Blows It on Food Stamps

Mayor Bloomberg has said that poverty reduction will be a centerpiece of his second term. He made a big splash when he appointed a high profile task force on poverty to look in depth at some of the City's most impoverished neighborhoods.

Well, I gotta say, it doesn't take a blue ribbon panel to know that preventing poor people from accessing money and government benefits will not reduce poverty.

That's exactly what Bloomberg has decided to do, though, by overriding his own Deputy Mayor Gibbs and HRA Commissioner Eggleston, and refusing to seek a federal waiver that would enable New York City to access millions of dollars in federal food stamps for unemployed childless adults. Bloomberg seems to be afraid to emerge from Guiliani's punitive shadow on this issue, notwithstanding the clear economic benefit for low-income New Yorkers, and the city's economy on the whole of helping New Yorkers access money to buy food.

The waiver would allow New York City to opt out of federal requirements that childless adults only receive food stamps for 3 months, if they are unemployed. NYC is allowed to opt out because of our unemployment rate is so high. It is clear that not everyone who wants to work is able to find a job. Many other cities have sought such a waiver.

The New York Times estimated that

as many as 600,000 New Yorkers who are eligible for food assistance are not receiving it.

Sadly, though, Bloomberg seems more concerned about headlines than hunger.

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Posted at 10:35 AM, Apr 24, 2006 in Economic Opportunity
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