[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 7 (Wednesday, January 11, 1995)] [Notices] [Pages 2730-2731] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 95-637] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Food and Consumer Service RIN: 0584-AB97 Food Stamp Program: Maximum Allotments for Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and the Virgin Islands AGENCY: Food and Consumer Service, USDA. ACTION: General notice. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: By this notice, the Department of Agriculture is updating the maximum food stamp allotments for participating households in Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and the Virgin Islands. These annual adjustments, required by law, take into account changes in the cost of food and statutory adjustments. EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 1994. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Judith M. Seymour, Supervisor, Eligibility and Certification Regulations Section, Certification Policy Branch, Program Development Division, Food Stamp Program, Food and Consumer Service, USDA, Alexandria, Virginia 22302, (703) 305-2496. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION Publication As required by law, State agencies implemented this action on October 1, 1994 based on advance notice of the new amounts. Based on regulations published at 47 FR 46485 (October 19, 1982) annual statutory adjustments to the maximum allotment levels, income eligibility standards, and deductions are issued by General Notices published in the Federal Register and not through rulemaking proceedings. Executive Order 12866 This rule has been determined to be not significant for purposes of Executive Order 12866 and therefore has not been reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget. Executive Order 12372 The Food Stamp Program is listed in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance under No. 10.551. For the reasons set forth in the Final rule and related Notice to 7 CFR Part 3015, Subpart V (48 FR 29116, June 24, 1983), this program is excluded from the scope of Executive Order No. 12372 which requires intergovernmental consultation with State and local officials. Regulatory Flexibility Act Ellen Haas, Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services, has certified that this action will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. The action will increase the amount of money spent on food through increases in food stamp benefits issued to participating households. However, this money will be distributed among the relevant area's food vendors as the food stamps are used by households, so the effect on any one vendor will not be significant. Paperwork Reduction Act This action does not contain reporting or recordkeeping requirements subject to review by the Office of Management and Budget. Background Thrifty Food Plan (TFP) and Allotments The TFP is a plan for the consumption of foods of different types (food groups) that families might use to provide nutritious meals and snacks for family members. The plan suggests amounts of food for men, women, and children of different ages, and it meets most dietary standards. The cost of the TFP is adjusted monthly to reflect changes in the costs of the food groups. TFPs for Alaska and Hawaii are based upon an adjusted average for the six-month period that ends with June 1994. Since the Bureau of Labor Statistics (the source of food price data) no longer publishes monthly information to compute Alaska and Hawaii TFPs, the adjusted average provides a proxy for actual June 1994 TFP costs. The adjusted average is equal to January-June 1994 TFP costs for Alaska and Hawaii increased by the average percentage difference between the cost of the TFP in Alaska and Hawaii in June and the January-June average from 1976 through 1986 (a 1.53 percent increase over January-June costs in Alaska and a 1.82 percent increase in Hawaii). [[Page 2731]] For the period January through June 1994, the average cost of the TFP was $459.90 in Alaska, a decrease since last year, and $615.30 in Hawaii. The proxies for actual June 1994 TFP costs were $466.94 in Alaska and $626.50 in Hawaii. The June 1994 cost of the TFP was $553.20 in Guam and $482.50 in the Virgin islands. The TFP is also the basis for establishing food stamp allotments. Food stamp allotments are adjusted periodically to reflect changes in food cost levels. Section 3(o)(11) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977, as amended (7 U.S.C. 2012(o)(11)) provides for an adjustment on October 1, 1994, based upon 103 percent of the June 1994 cost of the TFP for a family of four persons consisting of a man and woman ages 20-50 and children ages 6-8 and 9-11. The maximum food stamp benefit or allotment is paid to households which have no net income. For households which have some income, their allotment is determined by reducing the maximum allotment for their household size by 30% of the household's net income. To obtain the maximum food stamp allotment for each household size, the TFP costs for the four-person household were increased by 3 percent, divided by four, multiplied by the appropriate household size and economy of scale factor, and the final result was rounded down to the nearest dollar. Because the decrease in the Alaska TFP would have caused a subsequent drop in maximum food stamp allotments, on October 13, 1994, the President signed into law P.L. 103-345. This law prohibits the Secretary from reducing food stamp allotments for Alaska on October 1, 1994 based on a TFP cost that was lower than the cost of the TFP for Alaska in June 1993. This law is effective September 30, 1994. As a result of this action, the food stamp allotments for Alaska published in this notice are the same as last year's. Pursuant to section 3(o)(3) of the Food Stamp Act (7 U.S.C. 2012(o)(3), maximum food stamp benefits for Guam and the Virgin Islands cannot exceed those in the 50 States and D.C., so they are based upon the lower of their respective TFPs or the TFP for rural II Alaska. In addition, the urban Alaska allotment is the higher of the allotment that was in effect in urban areas on October 1, 1985 or 100.79 percent of the adjusted Anchorage TFP (see 50 FR 18456, dated May 1, 1984, and 51 FR 16281, dated May 2, 1986). The following table shows new allotments for Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and the Virgin Islands. Maximum Allotment Amounts \1\--October 1994, As Adjusted ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Urban Rural I Rural II Virgin Household size Alaska \2\ Alaska \3\ Alaska \4\ Hawaii Guam \5\ Islands \5\ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1................................. $147 $188 $229 $193 $170 $149 2................................. 271 345 420 354 313 273 3................................. 388 495 602 508 448 391 4................................. 492 628 765 645 569 496 5................................. 585 746 908 766 767 590 6................................. 702 895 1090 919 811 708 7................................. 776 990 1204 1016 897 782 8................................. 887 1131 1377 1161 1025 894 Each additional member............ +111 +141 +172 +145 +128 +112 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- \1\ Adjusted to reflect the cost of food in June, adjustments for each household size, economies of scale, a 1.03 percent increase in the TFP and rounding, except Alaska which by P.L. 103-345 has been held at the 1993- 94 levels. \2\ These levels are 100.79 percent of the Anchorage TFP, as adjusted. \3\ These levels are 128.52 percent of the Anchorage TFP, as adjusted. \4\ These levels are 156.42 percent higher than the Anchorage TFP, as adjusted. \5\ Adjusted to reflect changes in the cost of food in the 48 States and DC, which correlate with price changes in these areas. Maximum allotments in these areas cannot exceed those in rural II Alaska. Maximum allotments for the 48 States and DC were published in a separate notice in the Federal Register. These adjustments were announced sooner than the adjustments for Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the Virgin Islands because the data to accomplish the update for the 48 States and DC were available sooner than the data for the other areas covered by this notice. (7 U.S.C. 2011-2032) Dated January 4, 1995. Ellen Haas, Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services. [FR Doc. 95-637 Filed 1-10-95; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3410-30-U