95-637. Food Stamp Program: Maximum Allotments for Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and the Virgin Islands  

  • [Federal Register Volume 60, Number 7 (Wednesday, January 11, 1995)]
    [Notices]
    [Pages 2730-2731]
    From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
    [FR Doc No: 95-637]
    
    
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    DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
    
    Food and Consumer Service
    RIN: 0584-AB97
    
    
    Food Stamp Program: Maximum Allotments for Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, 
    and the Virgin Islands
    
    AGENCY: Food and Consumer Service, USDA.
    
    ACTION: General notice.
    
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    SUMMARY: By this notice, the Department of Agriculture is updating the 
    maximum food stamp allotments for participating households in Alaska, 
    Hawaii, Guam, and the Virgin Islands. These annual adjustments, 
    required by law, take into account changes in the cost of food and 
    statutory adjustments.
    
    EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 1994.
    
    FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Judith M. Seymour, Supervisor, 
    Eligibility and Certification Regulations Section, Certification Policy 
    Branch, Program Development Division, Food Stamp Program, Food and 
    Consumer Service, USDA, Alexandria, Virginia 22302, (703) 305-2496.
    
    SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
    
    Publication
    
        As required by law, State agencies implemented this action on 
    October 1, 1994 based on advance notice of the new amounts. Based on 
    regulations published at 47 FR 46485 (October 19, 1982) annual 
    statutory adjustments to the maximum allotment levels, income 
    eligibility standards, and deductions are issued by General Notices 
    published in the Federal Register and not through rulemaking 
    proceedings.
    
    Executive Order 12866
    
        This rule has been determined to be not significant for purposes of 
    Executive Order 12866 and therefore has not been reviewed by the Office 
    of Management and Budget.
    
    Executive Order 12372
    
        The Food Stamp Program is listed in the Catalog of Federal Domestic 
    Assistance under No. 10.551. For the reasons set forth in the Final 
    rule and related Notice to 7 CFR Part 3015, Subpart V (48 FR 29116, 
    June 24, 1983), this program is excluded from the scope of Executive 
    Order No. 12372 which requires intergovernmental consultation with 
    State and local officials.
    
    Regulatory Flexibility Act
    
        Ellen Haas, Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer 
    Services, has certified that this action will not have a significant 
    economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. The action 
    will increase the amount of money spent on food through increases in 
    food stamp benefits issued to participating households. However, this 
    money will be distributed among the relevant area's food vendors as the 
    food stamps are used by households, so the effect on any one vendor 
    will not be significant.
    
    Paperwork Reduction Act
    
        This action does not contain reporting or recordkeeping 
    requirements subject to review by the Office of Management and Budget.
    
    Background
    
    Thrifty Food Plan (TFP) and Allotments
    
        The TFP is a plan for the consumption of foods of different types 
    (food groups) that families might use to provide nutritious meals and 
    snacks for family members. The plan suggests amounts of food for men, 
    women, and children of different ages, and it meets most dietary 
    standards. The cost of the TFP is adjusted monthly to reflect changes 
    in the costs of the food groups.
        TFPs for Alaska and Hawaii are based upon an adjusted average for 
    the six-month period that ends with June 1994. Since the Bureau of 
    Labor Statistics (the source of food price data) no longer publishes 
    monthly information to compute Alaska and Hawaii TFPs, the adjusted 
    average provides a proxy for actual June 1994 TFP costs. The adjusted 
    average is equal to January-June 1994 TFP costs for Alaska and Hawaii 
    increased by the average percentage difference between the cost of the 
    TFP in Alaska and Hawaii in June and the January-June average from 1976 
    through 1986 (a 1.53 percent increase over January-June costs in Alaska 
    and a 1.82 percent increase in Hawaii).
    
    [[Page 2731]]
    
        For the period January through June 1994, the average cost of the 
    TFP was $459.90 in Alaska, a decrease since last year, and $615.30 in 
    Hawaii. The proxies for actual June 1994 TFP costs were $466.94 in 
    Alaska and $626.50 in Hawaii. The June 1994 cost of the TFP was $553.20 
    in Guam and $482.50 in the Virgin islands.
        The TFP is also the basis for establishing food stamp allotments. 
    Food stamp allotments are adjusted periodically to reflect changes in 
    food cost levels. Section 3(o)(11) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977, as 
    amended (7 U.S.C. 2012(o)(11)) provides for an adjustment on October 1, 
    1994, based upon 103 percent of the June 1994 cost of the TFP for a 
    family of four persons consisting of a man and woman ages 20-50 and 
    children ages 6-8 and 9-11.
        The maximum food stamp benefit or allotment is paid to households 
    which have no net income. For households which have some income, their 
    allotment is determined by reducing the maximum allotment for their 
    household size by 30% of the household's net income. To obtain the 
    maximum food stamp allotment for each household size, the TFP costs for 
    the four-person household were increased by 3 percent, divided by four, 
    multiplied by the appropriate household size and economy of scale 
    factor, and the final result was rounded down to the nearest dollar.
        Because the decrease in the Alaska TFP would have caused a 
    subsequent drop in maximum food stamp allotments, on October 13, 1994, 
    the President signed into law P.L. 103-345. This law prohibits the 
    Secretary from reducing food stamp allotments for Alaska on October 1, 
    1994 based on a TFP cost that was lower than the cost of the TFP for 
    Alaska in June 1993. This law is effective September 30, 1994. As a 
    result of this action, the food stamp allotments for Alaska published 
    in this notice are the same as last year's.
        Pursuant to section 3(o)(3) of the Food Stamp Act (7 U.S.C. 
    2012(o)(3), maximum food stamp benefits for Guam and the Virgin Islands 
    cannot exceed those in the 50 States and D.C., so they are based upon 
    the lower of their respective TFPs or the TFP for rural II Alaska. In 
    addition, the urban Alaska allotment is the higher of the allotment 
    that was in effect in urban areas on October 1, 1985 or 100.79 percent 
    of the adjusted Anchorage TFP (see 50 FR 18456, dated May 1, 1984, and 
    51 FR 16281, dated May 2, 1986).
        The following table shows new allotments for Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, 
    and the Virgin Islands.
    
                                Maximum Allotment Amounts \1\--October 1994, As Adjusted                            
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                                           Urban       Rural I      Rural II                                Virgin  
              Household size             Alaska \2\   Alaska \3\   Alaska \4\     Hawaii      Guam \5\   Islands \5\
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    1.................................         $147         $188         $229         $193         $170         $149
    2.................................          271          345          420          354          313          273
    3.................................          388          495          602          508          448          391
    4.................................          492          628          765          645          569          496
    5.................................          585          746          908          766          767          590
    6.................................          702          895         1090          919          811          708
    7.................................          776          990         1204         1016          897          782
    8.................................          887         1131         1377         1161         1025          894
    Each additional member............         +111         +141         +172         +145         +128         +112
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    \1\ Adjusted to reflect the cost of food in June, adjustments for each household size, economies of scale, a    
      1.03 percent increase in the TFP and rounding, except Alaska which by P.L. 103-345 has been held at the 1993- 
      94 levels.                                                                                                    
    \2\ These levels are 100.79 percent of the Anchorage TFP, as adjusted.                                          
    \3\ These levels are 128.52 percent of the Anchorage TFP, as adjusted.                                          
    \4\ These levels are 156.42 percent higher than the Anchorage TFP, as adjusted.                                 
    \5\ Adjusted to reflect changes in the cost of food in the 48 States and DC, which correlate with price changes 
      in these areas. Maximum allotments in these areas cannot exceed those in rural II Alaska.                     
    
        Maximum allotments for the 48 States and DC were published in a 
    separate notice in the Federal Register. These adjustments were 
    announced sooner than the adjustments for Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the 
    Virgin Islands because the data to accomplish the update for the 48 
    States and DC were available sooner than the data for the other areas 
    covered by this notice.
    
    (7 U.S.C. 2011-2032)
    
        Dated January 4, 1995.
    Ellen Haas,
    Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services.
    [FR Doc. 95-637 Filed 1-10-95; 8:45 am]
    BILLING CODE 3410-30-U
    
    
    

Document Information

Effective Date:
10/1/1994
Published:
01/11/1995
Department:
Food and Consumer Service
Entry Type:
Notice
Action:
General notice.
Document Number:
95-637
Dates:
October 1, 1994.
Pages:
2730-2731 (2 pages)
PDF File:
95-637.pdf