| Releases & Statements
Gotbaum:
Mayor Fails Again to Help New Yorkers; Mayor Passes Up on Million$$$
from Washington
Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum is outraged
by the City’s decision for a fourth year in a row to pass
up on a waiver to increase access to food stamps for single adults
seeking employment.
The Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents,
or ABWAD, waiver would allow low-income single adults without
children, who can prove they are looking for work, stay on food
stamps longer than the current 3-month cut-off. The feds allow
counties with high unemployment rates to opt out of the time limit.
Much of New York State qualifies.
“The policy doesn’t make
sense. The City is passing up federal dollars that can provide
an extra bit of help to single adults seeking work and self sufficiency.
There is no downside to the waiver. In past years even the most
conservative counties in the state rushed to sign up,” said
Gotbaum.
Gotbaum has previously released estimates
that show the City already misses out on nearly $1 billion in
federal food stamp aid because of low enrollment among eligible
New Yorkers. Every food stamp dollar generates about double the
money for the local economy (currently about $300M per month in
NYC).
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