{
  "id": "RL30529",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL30529",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 101909,
      "date": "2000-04-12",
      "retrieved": "2016-05-24T20:37:22.896941",
      "title": "Military Personnel and Food Stamps",
      "summary": "In response to reports that members of the U.S. armed services qualify for and receive food\nstamps,\nthere have been calls for a policy response to reduce or eliminate member eligibility. The desirability\nof such a response has been questioned, however, on several grounds, including cost and its potential\naffects on Department of Defense (DoD) personnel policy. This report examines the possible extent\nof service-member participation in the food stamp program and provides background information on\nseveral aspects of the policy debate.\n  Quantitative estimates of military participation and eligibility in the food stamp program vary\nbecause of limited available data, different methodologies and specific assumptions about the\ncalculation of income. Recent estimates have varied from a few thousand to over twenty thousand.\nAlthough the true difference in estimates between eligibility and participation is unknown, assuming\nan excess of eligibles over participants would be somewhat consistent with the situation in the U.S.\npopulation as a whole, where only about two-thirds of eligibles actually receive stamps.\n  Legislative proposals to reduce military food stamp eligibility in the United States were\nconsidered for those stationed in the United States but voted down in the first session of the 106th\nCongress. In the second session, Sen. McCain introduced  S. 2322  which would provide\na subsistence allowance for food stamp eligibles. \n  Major concerns include whether or not participation in the program is primarily a result of\ninadequate pay or other factors such as household size. Concerns also exist that policy intervention\ncould have unintended social and personnel affects on the military. Available policy options range\nfrom including the value of in-kind benefits (most notably housing) in the income/eligibility\ncalculation, to mandating pay raises in every grade. The first approach would arguably equalize\nconditions for members on and off base by eliminating the relative advantage on-base members have\nin meeting eligibility criteria, which considers income in cash, but not in-kind benefits. Similarly\nsituated members living off-base receive housing allowances as part of their compensation packages,\nwhich may increase their income sufficiently to make them ineligible for food stamps. Pay raises, by\ncontrast, would more directly ameliorate financial pressure on many or all families.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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          "encoding": null,
          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RL30529",
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      ],
      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Foreign Affairs",
    "National Defense"
  ]
}