Hungry Texans Wait Months for Food Assistance

The Chronicle had another report today of a backlog of food stamp applications in Texas. Federal rules require the states to process food stamp applications within 30 days but The State Health and Human Services Commission was only able to meet that deadline for 63% of the 131,000 applications it received in July. Some applicants have waited months.

2.8 million Texans received food assistance last month, half a million more than two years ago.

In 2003, the Republican State Legislature tried to privatize HHSC functions with disastrous results. As state employees were let go, newly-formed crony corporations were unable to keep up with the work load. Soon authorities were embarrassed by reports of tens of thousands of poor children losing coverage under the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

Now HHSC is struggling to handle a record number of food assistance applicants with a little over half the staff they had ten years ago.

This year Governor Perry had to borrow two billion dollars from the Federal government to shore up the unemployment insurance fund because stopped collecting employer premiums last year when unemployment was low, and he turned down $555 million dollars in stimulus money to pay extended benefits because he refused to modernize Texas’ strict eligibility rules.

This all shows that the GOP response to Hurricane Katrina was no mistake. There may be corporate welfare and socialism for millionaires, but as far as public health and safety are concerned, this is a “harsher, crueler nation.” When Republicans talk about the “ownership society,” what they mean is that “you’re on your own.”