Wilson Plans Immediate Cuts in Food Stamps

Nearly 400,000 legal immigrants in California will be cut off from food stamp assistance beginning next week as part of the state’s first major step to implement the nation’s new welfare reform law, aides to Gov. Pete Wilson said Wednesday.

County leaders are scheduled to meet in Sacramento today for a briefing about the food stamp plan as well as an update on an upcoming massive overhaul of the state’s welfare system called for under the law signed by President Clinton last month.

For poor legal immigrants, this is only the first benefit cut under the new law. The federal legislation requires that all public benefits be stopped for legal immigrants, although states can replace the services at their own cost.

Already, the first steps to implement the landmark legislation were sending ripples through county government and indigent communities all over California. In Los Angeles on Wednesday, county officials met with advocates for the poor to issue a warning that they should brace for an unexpectedly rapid disruption.

“This is the kind of thing that worries us very much in our department,” said Lynn W. Bayer, director of the county Department of Public Social Services. “We wanted this to be a thoughtful process. And this makes us feel like this might not end up to be such a thoughtful process after all.”

The advocates also echoed concerns, warning that the cutoff of food stamps will be measured by an increase in the state’s homeless population.

“This whole community will just see more hungry people very quickly,” said Bob Erlenbusch, executive director of the Los Angeles Coalition to End Homelessness. “We have known for years that the food banks are stretched to the limits. The cupboard is bare.”

Carolyn Olney, the associate director of the Interfaith Hunger Coalition, also predicted: “You are going to see a great cost--not only to families themselves, but the community at large.”

State officials said Wednesday that they requested more time to prepare for the food stamp cuts but their schedule was expedited by a recent order from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which supervises the assistance program.

As a result, state welfare officials told The Times that they are required to begin the food stamp cutoff by Sunday, dropping as many as 17,000 recipients per month over the next year. Under the plan, individuals will be cut from the rolls when they arrive at county offices for their annual recertification of eligibility.

Counties are expected to implement the cuts on various schedules because federal law requires that they notify recipients of the legal changes.

In Los Angeles County, where the notification process is to begin next week, officials said they expect to begin cutting off legal immigrant recipients by Nov. 1. Small counties might be able to notify recipients more quickly, followed immediately by the cutoff of benefits, state officials said.

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About 436,000 legal immigrants in California currently receive food stamp benefits, with nearly half of that population in Los Angeles County. The federal legislation, however, provides exemptions for legal immigrants who are refugees, veterans, some who have been granted asylum in the United States, and those who have worked in the country for more than 10 years.

State officials estimated that at least 373,000 food stamp recipients in California will be affected by the new cutoff.

In Orange County, community officials said they were particularly worried about the large number of Southeast Asian immigrants.

“There is a population that we brought over from Southeast Asia that has not been able to work or who have been working and their income is so low that they depend on food stamps,” said Jean Forbath, director of Share Our Selves charity. “They will have to make horrific choices between paying the rent or paying the electricity and buying food.”

The average California household receiving food stamps gets about $182 in benefits per month. It is entirely paid for by federal funds and, unlike other welfare programs, does not include any state money.

The reform ended a 61-year guarantee of cash assistance to every eligible poor family with children. The legislation granted states much more authority over welfare programs. But the transition has already caused significant confusion.

President Clinton said when he signed the bill that he was disturbed by the provision affecting legal immigrants. He has pledged to return to Congress and seek changes that will restore at least some of the benefits for legal immigrants that were cut by the bill.

In the meantime, the president sought to provide some protection by allowing states to continue their current assistance levels until Aug. 22, 1997--one year after the legislation was signed.

Aides to Wilson said, however, the extension will not help California recipients because their eligibility is determined annually--unlike other states. As a result, recertification of the state’s recipients would exceed the president’s extension.