[Vision2020] Good news about Idaho

[Ron Force]

A Satisfying Subsidy
How conservatives learned to love the federal food stamps program.
By Annie Lowrey

...Then there is Idaho. Enrollment in the state's program soared nearly 40 
percent year-on-year, 10 percentage points more than in any other state. What 
gives in potato country? In one sense, the jump is expected, given the economic 
fundamentals. Unemployment sits at 9.1 percent—lower than the national average, 
but eons away from the 2.7 percent rate the state saw just before the recession 
hit. Idaho has also suffered a catastrophic housing bust, causing billions of 
dollars of wealth to evaporate.

But there's another reason for the soaring growth: Idaho has made it easier and 
quicker for residents to apply. The recession created an explosion in demand for 
the benefits now known as SNAP, for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance 
Program. But that explosion in demand just happened to coincide with a 
decade-long sea change for the program, now seen as efficient and effective—the 
lean machine of the social safety net...

Whole story:  http://www.slate.com/id/2277405/



      
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