How does the 2009 economic stimulus affect hunger in Wisconsin?

On February 17, 2009, President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which provides $787 billion in emergency spending to stimulate the economy and help protect American families against the effects of the current economic crisis.

Many components of this spending have the potential to offset some of the risk of food insecurity for households in Wisconsin and across the country.   Ensuring that all families can keep food on the table requires the support of four strong ‘legs of the table’:  a system to enable family economic security; access to affordable and healthy food; strong federal nutrition assistance programs; and a strong emergency food system.  The stimulus legislation includes elements that can help to strengthen each of these legs, as described in this summary.  More detail on the Act and its implications for Wisconsin is available from the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families at: http://www.wccf.org/pdf/comparative_summary_ARRA.pdf.

Leg 1 – Family Economic Security

Food security is fundamentally rooted in family economic security. When families struggle to make ends meet, acquiring sufficient food through conventional means can be difficult or impossible. A number of trends have emerged that put increasing strains on economic security, and therefore food security, in Wisconsin. Low-wage jobs, limited educational opportunities, the high cost of childcare, and the rising costs of housing, energy and healthcare all create substantial challenges for families struggling to make ends meet. A range of assistance programs– from tax credits to subsidized childcare to public health insurance to energy assistance– can help fill the gap.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act contains many provisions that can help strengthen family economic security.  At its broadest level, the Act is intended to create jobs—clearly critical to economic security.  In addition, it provides increased support from a variety of economic assistance programs as well as enhanced access to education.  Relevant provisions include:

  1. Unemployment Insurance –Provides an increase of $25/week in benefits;  provides 13 weeks of additional benefits available;  provides financial incentives to states to reform their unemployment insurance programs
  2. Housing – Provides first time homebuyers’ tax credit ($8000); HASA; competitive grants to purchase and renovate foreclosed properties; funds to rehabilitate low-income housing
  3. Earned Income Tax Credit – Increases the income eligibility cutoff for married couples; Increases amount of the credit for households with three or more children
  4. Making Work Pay Tax Credit – Offsets payroll taxes for low and middle-income families
  5. Child Tax Credit – increases eligibility to cover more low-income families, by making the credit refundable so that families with low income benefit
  6. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) – Provides one-time $250 payment to all recipients
  7. Energy Assistance – Extends tax credits for home weatherization;  increases funds to help low income households with heating/cooling costs
  8. Higher Education ­– Increases funding for Pell Grants to help low income students pay for college; American Opportunity Tax Credits to reduce some costs of higher Ed.
  9. Child Care ­­– Increases the amount of the child development block grant to states to improve quality of childcare services;  provides additional money to increase participation in Head Start
  10. Health Care – Increases to cover some of the costs to maintain health insurance for unemployed workers;  additional money to Medicaid
  11. Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) – provides states with additional funding to help with caseload increases and the increased costs of serving clients
  12. Community Development grants – Jonathan
  13. Training and Employment Services – provides funds for job training for adults, youth, and dislocated workers
  14. Homelessness Prevention – provides funds for short term rental assistance, housing relocation, and stabilization services

Leg 2 – Access to Affordable and Healthy Food

In order to meet their food needs families need dependable and ready access to affordable retail food outlets and other non-emergency food sources. Access may be limited due to distance or lack of transportation.

While the much of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act does not directly target food access, at least some components are relevant:   

  1. Car purchase – provides tax credits to offset the costs of new car purchases

Leg 3 – Federal Nutrition Assistance Programs

The federal nutrition programs provide essential food resources to protect and enhance food security among vulnerable households. These programs include the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly called the Food Stamp Program (FoodShare in Wisconsin); Senior Meals; the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC); the National School Lunch Program (NSLP); the School Breakfast Program (SBP); the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP)l the Child and Adult Care Food Program; as well as the federal nutrition education components (Food Stamp Nutrition Education and the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program, EFNEP) of the Wisconsin Nutrition Education Program (WNEP).

The key to these programs’ effectiveness is their capacity to provide households with significant supplemental food assistance through normal, non-emergency channels such as grocery stores, schools, camps, youth programs, community and senior centers, and day care providers.  Access to these programs can be complicated by stigma, or feelings of humiliation and shame; excess bureaucracy; federal restrictions on eligibility; limited benefits; low participation by eligible households in some programs in some areas; limited availability of programs in some communities and insufficient community-based outreach.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act contains a number of provisions expected to strengthen the federal food assistance safety net:  

  1. Food Stamps – Provides a  14% increase in benefits, effective April 2009, as well as additional money for administrative costs
  2. WIC – Increases funding to create a reserve to meet rising need, and provides additional funding to cover administrative costs
  3. Senior Nutrition Programs – provides additional funding for Meals on Wheels and Congregate Meals

Leg 4 – Emergency Food Assistance

Despite the existence of a federal nutrition safety net, many food insecure households continue to depend on emergency food sources for a portion of their food needs.  Emergency food providers include food banks, food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters. Food banks are non-profit, community-based organizations that receive and distribute foods to charitable feeding sites at low or no-cost. Food banks collect food through food drives, corporate contributions, government commodity programs and outright purchases. In Wisconsin, ten food banks serve regional areas or individual counties. They rely on volunteers and paid staff to sort, store and distribute food.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act contains important boosts to The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), which will strengthen our emergency food safety net and bring more food into Wisconsin food banks and pantries:

  1. TEFAP – Provides increases in funds for states to purchase food ($100 million in Wisconsin); increases for additional storage and distribution costs ($50 million over two years).

 

Return to homepage

 
Support for this site has been made possible by the Lutheran Office for Public Policy in Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Council of Churches, and the Wisconsin Community Action Program Association.