A JOINT MEMORIAL
REQUESTING THE HUMAN SERVICES
DEPARTMENT TO DEVELOP A PLAN TO ADDRESS THE UNDER-USE OF FOOD STAMPS IN NEW
MEXICO.
WHEREAS, New Mexico has the
highest rate of poverty in the nation, with nearly eighteen percent of its
people living in poverty; and
WHEREAS, twenty-five percent of
the children in New Mexico live in poverty and eleven percent of New Mexico's
children live in extreme poverty, putting New Mexico first in the nation in
child poverty; and
WHEREAS, New Mexico has the
highest rate of food insecurity in the nation with fourteen percent of its
people having limited or uncertain access to enough food and is third-highest
in the nation with five percent of New Mexicans not being able to afford enough
food; and
WHEREAS, the food stamp program
is the nation's best defense against hunger and food insecurity, and data from
the 2000 federal census indicate that as many as seventy-six thousand New
Mexico families with children are eligible for food stamps, but only
fifty-eight percent of these households participate in the food stamp program;
and
WHEREAS, it is estimated that
increasing the enrollment of eligible families receiving food stamps to eighty
percent would bring forty-two million dollars ($42,000,000) in additional food
stamp benefits to New Mexico; and
WHEREAS, the benefits of participation
in the food stamp program ripple outward from the families who use food stamps
to the local businesses where families spend their money, the businesses that
supply goods and services to local businesses and the people who are employed
by those businesses; and
WHEREAS, the expanded use of
food stamps by a greater number of families with children would create at least
six hundred new jobs;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED
BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the human services
department be requested to develop a plan to significantly increase the use of
food stamps in New Mexico; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the
human services department collaborate with organizations that serve the hungry
and food insecure and with organizations that advocate for the relief of hunger
and food insecurity in developing that plan; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that in
developing that plan the human services department consider simplifying the
food stamp enrollment form, training department staff to ensure that the
program is as accessible as possible, exploring and developing ways to provide
out-station food stamp enrollment options such as senior centers, food banks,
public health offices and community centers, marketing the program to
underserved populations, including the elderly and working families with
children, and considering changing the name of the program to reduce the social
stigma sometimes associated with the program; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the
human services department present that plan and report progress in addressing
the under-use of the food stamp program to the legislative health and human
services committee prior to November 30, 2003; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a
copy of this memorial be transmitted to the secretary of human services.