William Pollard, 8, lives in the East End with his father, Monty. The single dad depends on food stamps to keep food in the house.

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INDEXSeven sections, 173rd year, No. 157Copyright 2013,The Cincinnati Enquirer

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William Pollard, 8, lives in the East Endwith his father, Monty. The single daddepends on food stamps to keep foodin the house. THE ENQUIRER/LIZ DUFOUR

ENQUIRERWATCHDOG

Scrapingjust to put

food onthe table

For many working poor and disabled,

food stamps are vital. Stricter rules

could make them harder to come by.

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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013 CINCINNATI.COM /CINCINNATIENQUIRER @CINCIENQUIRER OHIO

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Some fear stricter enforcement of work requirements for food stamps could compound problems for manyby MARK CURNUTTEI write about determined people tryingto make a better life in the urban core.Reach me at mcurnutte@enquirer.com.

A few years ago, at the start of the recession, Monty Pollard got divorced.Then he lost his full-time job as a painter and handyman that paid $13.50 an hour with health and retirement benefits.

He now works part-time – about 22 hours a week – for $10 an hour as a janitor at a bar. Pollard, 45, a single father, receives $328 a month in food stamps for him and his 8-year-old son, William.

“It helps me put food in my house because everything I make either goes to pay the landlord or the gas and electric,” said Pollard, who rents part of a small house in the East End and describes life on food stamps this way: “You don’t eat three meals a day.”

His path is an increasingly worn one throughout Ohio and Kentucky over the past five years. “Food insecurity” and “low food security” households – essentially, the number of people who aren’t sure when they will eat the next meal – are higher here than national levels, even as record numbers of people in Ohio and Kentucky depend on food stamps, known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.

Food insecurity measures households where food intake and eating patterns are disrupted by a lack of money or other resources. Ohio’s rate of 16.1 percent of food-insecure households is the third highest nationally. It and the Bluegrass State’s 15.6 percent rate are higher than the national rate of 14.7 percent, according

Food insecurity in regionhigher than national level

to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service.

Yet these are not unemployed people – “moochers,” as some SNAP critics say – or people who’ve given up the job search. These are the working poor, their children and the disabled. SNAP is the only public aid that 85 percent of Ohio’s 1.82. million SNAP recipients receive. That number is up 57 percent from the pre-recession number of 1.15 million in 2007. Kentucky has experienced a similar increase, up 34 percent from 633,000 to 849,000.Ohio to again enforcework requirement

Program changes are coming both in Ohio and across the country. Beginning Nov. 1, the nearly 48 million people in the U.S. who receive food stamps will get less. That’s when a provision in the 2009 federal

stimulus bill will expire; for Monty and Will Pollard, that’s $26 a month less.

“We’ll feel that,” Monty said.And starting Oct. 1 in Ohio, about

130,000 able-bodied adult food stamp recipients without dependent children – including 18,000 in Hamilton County – across 72 of the state’s 88 counties will again have to prove they spend 20 hours a week working, attending qualified job-readiness program or volunteering to receive the benefit.

Ohio had qualified again for a statewide waiver to the federal work requirement, which limits SNAP benefits to nonworking people to only three months in a three-year period. Instead, Gov. John Kasich’s administration kept the waiver in place in just 16 counties, most of them in the Appalachian part of the state and where the two-year unemployment rate for 2011 and

2012 exceeded 120 percent of the national unemployment average. These counties have almost exclusively white populations – in four, the number of African-American residents is less than1percent – far from the statewide black population of 12.5 percent.

But in Hamilton, Cuyahoga, Franklin and Ohio’s other urban counties, the rate of black unemployment is roughly 200 percent higher than the national overall rate and jobs and work sites are as potentially scarce as in impoverished rural counties.

“Gov. Kasich’s administration will add to the despair and plight which engulfs many African-Americans,” said Bobby Hilton, senior pastor of Word of Deliverance church in Forest Park and president of the Greater Cincinnati chapter of the National Action Network, the civil rights group founded 20 years ago by the Rev. Al Sharpton. “I question why Appalachian counties are exempt while urban, largely African-American counties must face this change.”

It’s because Ohio’s Department of Job and Family Services is active in urban neighborhoods in counties where the overall unemployment rate is in line with or less than the state average, said ODJFS spokesman Benjamin Johnson. Further, he said, in 2014-15 the state budget will add $42 million in new spending to work supports – bus tokens, gas cards, money for car repairs and even rent subsidies – to remove work barriers for people needing to re-enter and stay in the workforce.

“We want to help all Ohioans not just get work but sustain work,” Johnson said.

Adults older than 50 and those with dependent children or a physical or mental disability that prevents them from

working are exempt from the SNAP work requirement, which dates to 1996 and Clinton-era welfare reform.

No food stamp benefits will be suspended until after Jan. 1.

“If they’re not participating, they’ll just fall off the rolls,” said Kevin Holt, section chief for workforce development for the Hamilton County Department of Job and Family Services. “We have the opportunity to work with people over the next three months.”

Those SNAP recipients with major employment barriers – a felony record, little work history, no car or access to public transportation – can find qualifying volunteer activities in their neighborhood religious community or school, Johnson said.

Recipients: Food stamp requirements already in place

People who receive food assistance say they already face a number of program regulations to maintain eligibility, and, they say, those requirements don’t count the stigma they experience in the grocery store checkout line.

“It’s embarrassing, it’s kind of degrading,” said Pollard, whose son is a bright third-grader at Riverview East Academy. “I do it so he doesn’t have to do without. If I had my choice, I wouldn’t even be on it.”

Pollard, who works, is not alone in his plight. Officials at the Freestore Foodbank, the region’s largest food bank and lead agency of a network of 275 food banks

A few years ago, at the start of therecession,Monty Pollard got di-vorced. Then he lost his full-time jobas a painter and handyman that paid$13.50 an hour with health and retire-ment benefits.

He nowworks part-time – about 22hours a week – for $10 an hour as ajanitor at a bar. Pollard, 45, a singlefather, receives $328 amonth in foodstamps for him and his 8-year-old son,William.

“It helpsme put food inmy housebecause everything Imake eithergoes to pay the landlord or the gas andelectric,” said Pollard, who rents partof a small house in the East End anddescribes life on food stamps thisway: “You don’t eat threemeals aday.”

His path is an increasingly wornone throughout Ohio andKentuckyover the past five years. “Food insecu-rity” and “low food security” house-holds – essentially, the number ofpeople who aren’t sure when theywilleat the nextmeal – are higher herethan national levels, even as recordnumbers of people in Ohio andKen-tucky depend on food stamps, knownas the Supplemental Nutrition Assis-tance Program, or SNAP.

Food insecuritymeasures house-holds where food intake and eatingpatterns are disrupted by a lack ofmoney or other resources. Ohio’s rateof 16.1percent of food-insecure house-holds is the third highest nationally. Itand the Bluegrass State’s 15.6 percentrate are higher than the national rateof 14.7 percent, according to datafrom theU.S. Department of Agricul-ture’s Economic Research Service.

Yet these are not unemployed peo-ple – “moochers,” as some SNAPcritics say – or people who’ve given upthe job search. These are the workingpoor, their children and the disabled.SNAP is the only public aid that 85percent of Ohio’s 1.82. million SNAPrecipients receive. That number is up57 percent from the pre-recessionnumber of 1.15million in 2007. Ken-tucky has experienced a similar in-crease, up134 percent from 633,000 to849,000.

Ohio to again enforcework requirement

Program changes are coming bothin Ohio and across the country.

BeginningNov. 1, the nearly 48million people in the U.S. who receivefood stampswill get less. That’s when

a provision in the 2009 federal stimu-lus bill will expire; forMonty andWillPollard, that’s $26 amonth less.

“We’ll feel that,”Monty said.And starting Oct. 1 in Ohio, about

130,000 able-bodied adult food stamprecipients without dependent children– including18,000 inHamilton County– across 72 of the state’s 88 countieswill again have to prove they spend 20hours a weekworking, attending qual-ified job-readiness program or volun-teering to receive the benefit.

Ohio had qualified again for astatewide waiver to the federal workrequirement, which limits SNAPbenefits to nonworking people to onlythreemonths in a three-year period.Instead, Gov. JohnKasich’s admini-stration kept the waiver in place injust 16 counties, most of them in theAppalachian part of the state andwhere the two-year unemploymentrate for 2011and 2012 exceeded120percent of the national unemploymentaverage. These counties have almostexclusively white populations – infour, the number of African-Americanresidents is less than1percent – farfrom the statewide black population

of 12.5 percent.But inHamilton, Cuyahoga, Frank-

lin and Ohio’s other urban counties,the rate of black unemployment isroughly 200 percent higher than thenational overall rate and jobs andwork sites are as potentially scarce asin impoverished rural counties.

“Gov. Kasich’s administration willadd to the despair and plight whichengulfsmany African-Americans,”said BobbyHilton, senior pastor ofWord of Deliverance church in ForestPark and president of the GreaterCincinnati chapter of the NationalAction Network, the civil rights groupfounded 20 years ago by the Rev. AlSharpton. “I question whyAppala-chian counties are exempt while ur-ban, largely African-American coun-tiesmust face this change.”

It’s because Ohio’s Department of

Job and Family Services is active inurban neighborhoods in countieswhere the overall unemployment rateis in line with or less than the stateaverage, said ODJFS spokesmanBen-jamin Johnson. Further, he said, in2014-15 the state budget will add $42million in new spending to work sup-ports – bus tokens, gas cards, moneyfor car repairs and even rent sub-sidies – to removework barriers forpeople needing to re-enter and stay inthe workforce.

“Wewant to help all Ohioans notjust get work but sustain work,” John-son said.

Adults older than 50 and those withdependent children or a physical ormental disability that prevents themfromworking are exempt from theSNAPwork requirement, which datesto 1996 and Clinton-era welfare re-form.

No food stamp benefits will besuspended until after Jan. 1.

“If they’re not participating, they’lljust fall off the rolls,” said KevinHolt,section chief for workforce devel-opment for theHamilton County De-partment of Job and Family Services.

Food insecurity in regionhigher than national levelSome fear stricter enforcement of work requirements for food stamps could compound problems for many

MARKCURNUTTE

@markcurnutte

I write about determined people tryingto make a better life in the urban core.Reach me at mcurnutte@enquirer.com.

COVER STORY

William Pollard, 8, lives in the East End with his father, Monty. The single dad depends on food stamps to keep food in the house.THE ENQUIRER/ LIZ DUFOUR

ENQUIRERWATCHDOG

GETTING BYFood stamps help Monty Pollardand other working-poor families

stretch their food budgets. Video atCincinnati.com.

A4 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013 /// THE ENQUIRER OHIO

William Pollard, 8, lives in the East End with his father, Monty. The single dad depends on food stamps to keep food in the house.

THE ENQUIRER/ LIZ DUFOUR

OHIO THE ENQUIRER /// FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013 A5

“We have the opportunity to workwith people over the next threemonths.”

Those SNAP recipients with ma-jor employment barriers – a felonyrecord, little work history, no car oraccess to public transportation – canfind qualifying volunteer activities intheir neighborhood religious commu-nity or school, Johnson said.

Recipients: Food stamprequirements already in place

People who receive food assis-tance say they already face a num-ber of program regulations to main-tain eligibility, and, they say, thoserequirements don’t count the stigmathey experience in the grocery storecheckout line.

“It’s embarrassing, it’s kind ofdegrading,” said Pollard, whose sonis a bright third-grader at RiverviewEast Academy. “I do it so he doesn’thave to do without. If I had mychoice, I wouldn’t even be on it.”

Pollard, who works, is not alone inhis plight. Officials at the FreestoreFoodbank, the region’s largest foodbank and lead agency of a network of275 food banks regionally, say themajority of their SNAP clients holddown jobs.

They have clients who are sub-urban mothers with teen-aged chil-dren who have a master’s degree andhold down three part-time jobs tosupport their family and maintainfood-stamp benefits.

Other clients don’t have cars andwork for temporary services, hold-ing down even irregular or seasonaljobs in factories that require a $5daily fee for transportation. Someweeks, temp service workers aver-age 30 hours. Other weeks, they getonly eight hours total, say Freestorecase workers.

Meanwhile, seemingly far away

from the struggles of the workingpoor, the federal food stamp programhas become politicized. In July,House Republicans signaled plans tocurtail benefits by narrowly passinga farm bill that didn’t include foodstamp re-authorization. The movedrew immediate Democratic criti-cism and threats of a presidentialveto. Money will almost certainly befound to maintain SNAP in a sep-arate bill, but even the prospect ofcuts is chilling in a region wherenearly one in eight residents alreadycollects food stamps.

Ohio ranks 10th nationally as thestate where most people go hungry,according to the agriculture depart-ment.

In fiscal 2013, which ended June30, the Freestore Foodbank and itsaffiliated food banks distributed 19million meals, said Kurt Reiber, Fre-estore president and chief executive.That number is up from16.25 millionmeals in 2012 and 15 million in 2011.

SNAP benefits can be spent onlyon eligible items and cannot be usedto buy alcohol, tobacco or restaurantfood. The Freestore and other agen-cies in the Ohio Association of FoodBanks are bracing for even moredemand atop of rising need. The lossof federal stimulus money into SNAPwill reduce the average individual’sallowance by $21 and a family offour’s allotment by $67, Reiber said.

It wasn’t just SNAP recipientswho benefited. Many economists,echoing a study byMoody’s Econo-my.com, said every $1 of the foodstamp stimulus investment generat-ed $1.73 throughout the economy,including salaries for grocery storeworkers and drivers who haul food.

“SNAP is not a free lunch,” Reibersaid. “This is sustenance food thathelps working people stretch theirbudgets and extend the month.”m

COVER STORY

July jobless rate*

4.5% 12.3%

Countieswith waivers

The Enquirer/Randy MazzolaSources: Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and 2012 U.S. Census estimates

Counties with waiversBased on calculations from 2011 and 2012, 16 counties have waivers from workrequirements on food stamps. Those counties are shown here, along with the July 2013jobless rate in each county.

Adams

AllenAshland

Ashtabula

Athens

Auglaize

Belmont

Brown

Butler

Carroll

Champaign

Clark

Clermont

Clinton

Columbiana

Coshocton

Crawford

Cuyahoga

Darke

Defiance

Delaware

Erie

Fairfield

Franklin

Fulton

Gallia

Geauga

Greene

Guernsey

Hamilton

Hancock

Hardin

Harrison

Henry

Highland

Hocking

Holmes

Huron

Jackson

JeffersonJeffersonKnox

Lake

Lawrence

Licking

Logan

Lorain

Lucas

Madison

Mahoning

Marion

Medina

Meigs

Mercer

Miami

MonroeMontgomery

Morgan

Morrow

Muskingum

Noble

Ottawa

Paulding

PerryPickaway

Pike

Portage

Preble

Putnam

Richland

Ross

Sandusky

Scioto

Seneca

Shelby

Stark

Summit

Trumbull

Tuscarawas

Union

Van Wert

Vinton

WarrenWashington

Wayne

Williams

Wood

Wyandot

Fayette

The lawsuits filed by some North-ern Kentucky tea party membersagainst library taxes have drawnattention, puzzlement and in somecases – ridicule – elsewhere in thecountry.

No other libraries in the countryface such challenges, Barbara Strip-ling, president of the American Li-brary Association, told the more than100 people assembled in Newport fora forum on the issue this week.

“I think it’s a very negative way toapproach a problem,” Stripling toldThe Enquirer after the forum. “Rath-er than finding a solution, to sue andtear down what exists, that’s not theway I approach problems. I look forpositive solutions, building on goodthings that are happening. This hasthe potential to really destroy libraryservices in this part of the country.”

Huffington Post blogger DavidMorris, in an Aug. 18 article entitled“The Tea Party vs. The Public Li-brary,” asked why the tea party inKentucky has challenged librariesand not the private sector, particular-ly regulated monopolies like utilitiesand cable companies that havesteadily raised rates.

“But if a library raises taxes by $1a year, the tea party’s pitchforksappear, the Declaration of Independ-ence is waved, the Founding Fathersinvoked, an American-as-apple-pieinstitution forcefully attacked,”wrote Morris.

Those filing the lawsuit havemaintained, as they did at the forum,they support libraries but don’t be-lieve the library district have fol-lowed the law in raising taxes.

And so far two circuit courtjudges, one in Kenton and one inCampbell County, agreed.

“What you run into with the Huf-fington Post trying to phrase this asthe tea party vs. library, it’s politicalspin and rhetoric,” said BrandonVoelker, attorney for the plaintiffs inKenton and Campbell County. “It isnot about libraries. It’s about wheth-er people can decide if their taxes goup. The libraries weren’t created bythe fiscal courts. They were createdby the people.”

Those lawsuits are on appeal, andsimilar lawsuits in three other Ken-tucky counties – Boone, AndersonandMontgomery counties – are onhold.

At stake for libraries is half ormore of their annual budgets.

If the tea party prevails, that

would mean cutting branches andservices, librarians say.

The basis of the lawsuit stemsfrom the tangle of laws in the stategoverning special taxing districts.

Paperwork gets lost over a centu-ry, said AndrewHartley, formerstaff attorney for the Kentucky De-partment for Local Government andGeorgetown city attorney.

The voters defeated the tax in-crease last November. But it broughtto light the incongruity in the law,said Erik Hermes, president of theCampbell County Tea Party and leadplaintiff in the Campbell Countylawsuit.

The plaintiffs contend, and circuitcourts upheld, that the library dis-tricts followed the wrong law onraising taxes. The Kentucky GeneralAssembly in 1979 passed a law,House Bill 44, that governed howspecial districts can raise taxes.

It allowed special districts to oper-ate like fiscal courts – counties’ topelected bodies. House Bill 44 gavespecial districts the power to raiseproperty taxes to bring in up to 4percent more revenue than the pre-vious year. But are libraries “specialdistricts” under the bill?

The lawsuits charge that HouseBill 44 doesn’t apply to libraries cre-ated by petition before the bill’s pas-sage.

To raise taxes, the lawsuits con-tend, these libraries must follow theprevious law requiring a petitionsigned by 51 percent of the numberof voters in the district who voted inthe last presidential election. Thesignatures must be gathered in a90-day time frame. In the case Ken-ton County, for example, that’s about30,000 signatures.

That’s an almost impossible task,said Jeff Mando, attorney for theCampbell County Library District inthe lawsuit.

Both sides agree that a legislativefix is needed. For members of the teaparty, they want voters to have a sayin tax increases. The state couldresolve the issue by either restingthe power of library tax increaseswith an elected body, most likely thefiscal court, or making libraryboards elected post, Hermes said. ■

Library lawsuitsattract unkindnational attentionAttack on institutionor objection to taxing?

SCOTTWARTMAN

@ScottWartman

I cover how the actions of Congressand the General Assembly impact you.Read my blog at cincinnati.com/blogs/nkypolitics or reach me atswartman@nky.com.

Plaintiffs’ attorney Brandon Voelker, left,and Campbell County Library Districtattorney Jeff Mando, right.

regionally, say the majority of their SNAP clients hold down jobs.

They have clients who are suburban mothers with teen-aged children who have a master’s degree and hold down three part-time jobs to support their family and maintain food-stamp benefits.

Other clients don’t have cars and work for temporary services, holding down even irregular or seasonal jobs in factories that require a $5 daily fee for transportation. Some weeks, temp service workers average 30 hours. Other weeks, they get only eight hours total, say Freestore case workers.

Meanwhile, seemingly far away from the struggles of the working poor, the federal food stamp program has become politicized. In July, House Republicans signaled plans to curtail benefits by narrowly passing a farm bill that didn’t include food stamp re-authorization. The move drew immediate Democratic criticism and threats of a presidential veto. Money will almost certainly be found to maintain SNAP in a separate bill, but even the prospect of cuts is chilling in a region where nearly one in eight residents already collects food stamps.

Ohio ranks 10th nationally as the state where most people go hungry, according to the agriculture department.

In fiscal 2013, which ended June 30, the Freestore Foodbank and its affiliated food banks distributed 19 million meals, said Kurt Reiber, Freestore president and chief executive. That number is up from 16.25 million meals in 2012 and 15 million in 2011.

SNAP benefits can be spent only on eligible items and cannot be used to buy alcohol, tobacco or restaurant food. The Freestore and other agencies in the Ohio Association of Food Banks are bracing for even more demand atop of rising need. The loss of federal stimulus money into SNAP will reduce the average individual’s allowance by $21and a family of four’s allotment by $67, Reiber said.

It wasn’t just SNAP recipients who benefited. Many economists, echoing a study by Moody’s Economy.com, said every $1 of the food stamp stimulus investment generated $1.73 throughout the economy, including salaries for grocery store workers and drivers who haul food.

“SNAP is not a free lunch,” Reiber said. “This is sustenance food that helps working people stretch their budgets and extend the month.” nReprinted with permission from the Cincinnati Enquirer, ©2013, all rights reserved.