Press Secretary Angel A. Demapan in an email to Variety yesterday said DCCA was notified by its federal grantor last month and had informed food stamps recipients of the reduced benefits beginning on May 1.
DCCA Secretary Melvin O. Faisao in a separate email said NAP will implement the 26.7 percent decrease in benefits which will continue until the end of the fiscal year 2011 on Sept. 30.
Faisao said the cut is a result of utilizing the 2009 surplus in order “to counteract a working compensation on the projected increase of 14 percent clienteles.”
He said this was negotiated by the CNMI because DCCA did not want the affected residents or clienteles to be on a waiting list.
This issue, Faisao said, was discussed during DCCA-NAP’s meeting with U.S. Department of Agriculture representatives on April 5.
Aside from Faisao those who attended the meeting were NAP administrator Eleanor Dela Cruz, program advisor to the secretary Elsie Ramon and USDA representatives Lisa Kim, Greg Saxton and Maribelle Balbes.
Gov. Benigno R. Fitial, for his part said: “Unfortunately, the commonwealth’s request for additional funding cannot be made possible due to the federal government’s still operating on a continuing resolution.”
He added, “Until such time that additional funding is made available, our local office is forced to make necessary adjustments to keep the program afloat for the remainder of the fiscal year.”
To accommodate the increasing demand for food stamps, NAP has implemented two measures for the program that will last through FY 2011:
1. All new and reopened cases (clients) will be placed on a wait list until additional funding is made available by the federal grantor agency.
2. Effective May 1, 2011, ongoing clients will continue to receive benefits but will see a decrease of 26.71 percent. Still, DCCA warns that this rate may fluctuate depending on the agency’s availability of funds.
Nonetheless, the Fitial administration said the administration will continue to seek assistance in securing the grantor agency’s assistance for additional funding source to accommodate the nutritional needs of families.
The Fitial administration said it is pleased to learn that Congressman Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan has introduced H.R. 1465 to increase the CNMI’s benefits to that of the national level.
“Our local NAP office will continue to work closely with their federal counterparts to address the ongoing situation,” Fitial said.
“We also hope that H.R. 1465 will have the approval of Congress so that our people will also be entitled to the same equitable assistance as the national program,” he said.
