SENATE MEMORIAL 54

52nd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2016

INTRODUCED BY

Howie C. Morales

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE LEGISLATIVE FINANCE COMMITTEE TO COLLECT DATA REGARDING THE COST OF IMPLEMENTING A THREE-MONTH TIME LIMIT AND EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING REQUIREMENTS IN THE SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.

     WHEREAS, one-fifth of all New Mexicans live at or below the federal poverty level, while nearly one-half of New Mexicans live below two hundred percent of the federal poverty level, an even more accurate measure of poverty; and

     WHEREAS, fourteen percent of New Mexico's children live in extreme poverty, meaning below fifty percent of the federal poverty level; and

     WHEREAS, one in five New Mexicans reports experiencing food insecurity; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico ranks fourth in the nation for child food insecurity; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico is ranked second to last in the nation for overall child welfare; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico's unemployment rate is the highest in the nation and thirty percent higher than the national average unemployment rate; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico is one of only three states in the country where the unemployment rate increased in the last twelve months; and

     WHEREAS, the United States congress' intent in establishing the supplemental nutrition assistance program, formerly known as food stamps, was to improve the nutrition levels among low-income households; and

     WHEREAS, one in five New Mexicans participates in the supplemental nutrition assistance program to help provide food for a household; and

     WHEREAS, according to the human services department, in federal fiscal year 2015, the human services department improperly terminated or denied food assistance in forty-eight percent of all cases that were closed or denied that year; and

     WHEREAS, in May 2014, the United States district court for the district of New Mexico found that the human services department was not processing requests for food and medical assistance by eligible New Mexicans in compliance with federal law and ordered the department to comply with federal law; and

     WHEREAS, the federal district court renewed its court order because, as of February 2015, the human services department was still not processing requests for food and medical assistance in compliance with federal law; and

     WHEREAS, starting January 1, 2016, the human services department has begun to restrict seventeen thousand five hundred adults in New Mexico to just three months of food assistance; and

     WHEREAS, the three-month time limit on food assistance that the human services department has imposed applies to adults who cannot find a job that offers twenty hours of work a week or a qualifying job training program, regardless of how hard they are looking for work or if applicable work training is even available; and

     WHEREAS, the human services department has implemented this harsh time limit on food assistance despite the fact that New Mexico continues to qualify for a statewide waiver of the requirement due to persistently high unemployment; and

     WHEREAS, on October 1, 2016, the human services department will require teenagers age sixteen and seventeen, parents with children over the age of thirteen and older adults age fifty to sixty to complete unpaid work hours or lose food assistance for up to one year;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the legislative finance committee be requested to study and calculate:

          A. all costs associated with administering the three-month time limit for able-bodied adults without dependents age eighteen to forty-nine;

          B. all costs associated with administering work requirements in the New Mexico supplemental nutrition assistance program's employment and training program;

          C. the number of New Mexicans subject to the three-month time limit or the employment and training requirement;

          D. the number of applicants and participants in the supplemental nutrition assistance program in the state who gain employment or increased earnings from participating in the supplemental nutrition assistance program's employment and training program; and

          E. the number of applicants and participants in the supplemental nutrition assistance program who are disqualified from receiving food assistance for noncompliance with time limit or employment and training work requirements in the supplemental nutrition assistance program and the corresponding loss, in dollars, of federal food assistance in New Mexico as a result of those disqualifications; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the human services department be requested to provide the legislative finance committee with all data and information necessary to conduct its study of the costs associated with implementing a three-month time limit and employment and training requirements in the supplemental nutrition assistance program; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that legislative finance committee staff present its report pursuant to the study to the legislative finance committee and the legislative health and human services committee by October 1, 2017; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the governor; the chair, vice chair and director of the legislative finance committee; and the chair and vice chair of the legislative health and human services committee.

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