Federal Food Assistance in Disasters: Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

Publication Date: February 2006

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Health

Type:

Abstract:

The Food Stamp program, child nutrition programs, and federally donated food commodities delivered through relief organizations provide major support in disasters like Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Existing laws authorize the Agriculture Department to change eligibility and benefit rules to facilitate emergency aid, and, in the short term, funding and federally provided food commodities are available without the need for additional appropriations.

With regard to the Katrina and Rita hurricanes, numerous food assistance program rules were waived -- e.g., granting one to three months of food stamp benefits to affected households, authorizing free school meals to affected children, and greatly easing eligibility documentation requirements.

However, Congress faced a number of issues with regard to the longer term -- e.g., who should pay for extra administrative costs, whether to extend the application of disaster rules beyond one to three months, costs associated with replenishing commodity stocks used to help hurricane victims, additional funding for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (the WIC program) in affected areas, how to deal with those made temporarily eligible (like some noncitizens normally barred from participation in food stamps), and whether to increase normal benefits and further loosen eligibility rules for those affected.

Several bills were introduced in response to the hurricanes (S. 1695 and H.R. 3809 were the most prominent). They were intended to expand on the steps already taken by the Administration. For example, they would have lengthened the period during which disaster rules apply, further eased eligibility and benefit rules for food stamps, and mandated extra money to support the distribution of food commodities and the WIC program.

But in the end, no significant action was taken, other than (1) small one-time increases in appropriations (totaling to $10 million) to replenish some commodity stocks used for hurricane-relief purposes and pay for commodity distribution costs, and (2) a $120 million transfer of funding from food stamp appropriations to support extra child nutrition costs.

This version is the final report on food assistance related to the 2005 hurricanes, and will not be updated.