Council vows to increase food stamp enrollment

Nearly $1 Billion a year in federal funding are lost to New York City because more than 500,000 eligible New Yorkers are not receiving Food Stamp Benefits. However, Council Speaker Christine Quinn has vowed to sign up at least 350,000 eligible recipients by the end of 2009, according to Frank Lombardi of the New York Daily News. Although enrollment has increased by 30 Percent since Mayor Bloomberg took office, New York still has not reached its one-time peak enrollment in 1995 of 1.5 million participants. Even though the Mayor claims you have to work to earn food stamps, nearly two out of three recipients are children, elderly or disabled people not working, according to Joel Berg, Executive Director of the Coalition Against Hunger. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn-Queens) and Rep. Jose Serrano (D-Bronx) have been pressing for passage of a bill to remove bureaucratic obstacles in the application process.