EDITORIAL Stretching dollars Dis

EDITORIAL
Stretching dollars Distribute food stamps twice a month

Ideally, we all should budget our money precisely over the course of a month so that we have the funds available to pay bills as they come due. It shouldn't matter if we get paid weekly, every two weeks or monthly.

In reality, most of us tend to spend more when we first get our paychecks, with the budget belt tightening as the pay period progresses.

People who receive public assistance such as food stamps are no different. Families tend to use more food stamps when they first get them, simply because their immediate hunger overshadows the need for longer-range budgeting. With benefits doled out during the first 10 days of the month, many food-stamp recipients often find themselves scraping by toward the end of the month.

Their spending habits also have an impact on retailers, who see greater traffic at the beginning of the month, as well as charitable organizations such as soup kitchens, which often see demand grow toward the end of the month.

Now some Michigan lawmakers are seeking to even out the spending roller-coaster by distributing food stamps twice a month, rather than monthly.

We think it is a good idea. Not only would recipients be able to budget their food spending better, but it also would make it easier for them to buy fresh produce and meat throughout the month, benefitting the health of their families.

In addition, stores would be able to stock their inventory and schedule their staffs more regularly, rather than trying to anticipate a first-of-the-month rush and a slowdown at the end of the month. Likewise, soup kitchens and food pantries wouldn't be as likely to see big fluctuations in demand.

Because food-stamp benefits now are transferred electronically on to recipients' debit cards, the cost of distributing funds twice a month instead of monthly would be minimal for state government.

More than 1.2 million people in Michigan - or about one in every nine - receives food stamps. That is more than double the number of people receiving assistance in 2000. Eighty percent of the benefits go to households with children. The state Department of Human Services currently is surveying recipients to see how a change to twice-a-month payments would affect them.

Thus far, we have yet to hear any persuasive argument against changing the current system. Unless a good case can be made to retain the monthly payment system, we think Michigan should become the first in the nation to provide food stamps twice a month.