Gov. Andrew Cuomo
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced today that his state will increase benefits under the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program so that New Yorkers’ food stamp benefits will not decrease under the new farm bill.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., praised Cuomo, a Democrat, for the action and urged other governors to take the same action.

“I want to thank Gov. Cuomo for ensuring New York families are not punished by the farm bill,” she said. “This is a heroic step to stave off hunger in New York. I hope other governors in heat and eat states will follow his strong leadership.”


Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.
Gillibrand and other members of Congress recently urged Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to delay implementation of the provision until next fall to allow states time to address the LIHEAP issue.

The change means that the new farm bill will have no impact on food stamp benefit levels in New York and that savings under the nutrition title of the new farm bill will be somewhat less than the $8.6 billion over 10 years that the Congressional Budget Office projected.

House Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., had predicted during the debate over the farm bill that states would take this action to preserve benefit levels, and that the federal savings would be lower than projected.

Rules for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP, the formal name for the food stamp program, allow low-income people who have utility bills to use those bills to reduce their reportable income and increase their SNAP benefits.

But the rules also allow people who get any payment under the LIHEAP program to trigger an increase in SNAP benefits, and New York was one of 15 states plus the District of Columbia that was making those payments. The Agriculture Act of 2014 requires that a state make a payment of at least $20 per year before an individual can get an increased SNAP benefit.

New York will dedicate approximately $6 million in additional federal LIHEAP funding to increase LIHEAP payments so that in households in which heat is included in the rent, SNAP benefit levels will not go down, the governor's office said in a news release today.

The decision will preserve an average of $127 per month in SNAP benefits for nearly 300,000 households, a total of $457 million a year in SNAP benefits that would otherwise be cut by the new farm bill, the news release said.

“New York State is stepping up to help families in need who are losing vital food assistance because of Washington cuts to the SNAP program,” Cuomo said in a news release. “These federal cuts have made it harder for our state's most vulnerable residents to put food on the table. The state has intervened on behalf of these low-income New Yorkers to make sure they can get food for themselves and their families.”


Joel Berg
Joel Berg, executive director of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger, said, “We can’t thank Gov. Cuomo enough for his extraordinary leadership in responding rapidly to ensure that struggling working parents, children, seniors, and veterans continue to obtain more adequate amounts of vital food assistance. This move is both morally correct and economically smart, ensuring that significant federal dollars continue to bolster New York’s food economy.”

Berg also praised Gillibrand for asking USDA to delay implementation of the program.

Vilsack has not responded to Gillibrand’s letter.