releases: http://sablan.house.gov/press-release/saipan-food-stamps-16-january-1
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| url | title | date | year | month | party | chamber | state | member_name | bioguide_id | domain | scraper | source | date_source | text | has_text | collected_at | updated_at |
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| http://sablan.house.gov/press-release/saipan-food-stamps-16-january-1 | Saipan food stamps up 16% January 1 | 2014-12-13 | 2014 | 2014-12 | Independent | Senate | MP | Gregorio Sablan | S001177 | sablan.house.gov | legacy | Saipan food stamps up 16% January 1 Dec 12, 2014 Very good news for people on Saipan, who get help from the federal government to feed their families: their food stamp benefit will go up 16 percent on January 1. For an average family of four that is an increase from $444 a month to $515. This follows increases for Rota, the Northern Islands, and Tinian in May to reflect the higher cost of food on those islands. But there was still money left over from previous years’ grants, so I have been encouraging the Commonwealth and the Agriculture Department to raise benefits for Saipan, too. Agriculture gave the okay last Friday, allowing the Commonwealth the option of raising benefits on Saipan anywhere from 10 to 16 percent. I spoke with the Governor several weeks ago in anticipation of this decision and recommended that he go for the full 16 percent. And I understand that the Governor has decided to raise food stamps for Saipan to the maximum possible. That is the right decision. Increasing benefits for Saipan is one more step forward in my work to get food assistance in the Northern Mariana Islands raised to the U.S. level. When I was elected to Congress in 2008, people in the Northern Marianas were getting half the benefits of people on Guam – but no one seemed to care. Within 4 months of arriving in Washington I convinced Agriculture Secretary Vilsack to increase the Northern Marianas food stamp grant 13 percent. And earlier this year I added a $32.5 million pilot program to the Agricultural Act, Public Law 113-79, raising benefits for the NMI at the same time food stamp funding was being cut nationwide. The pilot program will bring us an additional $13.5 million starting next October – on top of our $12 million annual grant – and another $8.5 million in fiscal years 2017 and 2018 each. The five-year pilot should eventually lead to full participation in the national food assistance program, SNAP. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |