If enacted, the Hunger Relief Act would restore food stamp eligibility to all eligible legal immigrants, regardless of their date of entry into the United States.  Currently, thousands of legal immigrants who arrived after the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) was enacted Aug. 22, 1996, and who are otherwise eligible for the benefit, may not receive food stamps.

The bill would also update food stamp rules that currently make families owning motor vehicles worth more than $4,650 ineligible for food stamps.  According to the support letter, this amount has risen only $150 since 1977 and is lower than the amount most states use to determine families’ eligibility for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.  Under the Hunger Relief Act, states would have the option of counting the value of a vehicle using the same rules in both their TANF and food stamp programs.

The bill’s other chief features include the assistance it will provide to low income families with children living in shelters.  Although the Food Stamp program allows families to deduct shelter costs from their income, current rules cap the amount at $275 per month, forcing many families to choose between shelter and food.  The Hunger Relief Act would raise the food stamp shelter deduction to $340 per month.

The coalition’s letter also cited a number of recent studies documenting the persistence of hunger amidst the economic expansions of the last decade.  A July 1999 General Accounting Office (GAO) study found that "‘children’s participation in the Food Stamp Program has dropped more sharply than the number of children living in poverty, indicating a growing gap between need and assistance.’"  The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, the cabinet-level agency that has authority over the program, found that in 1998, 6.1 million adults and 3.3 million children lived in households that experienced hunger, with hunger rates highest among families with children led by single women and minorities.