Arizona Food Stamps

Arizona has added 123,000 food-stamp recipients since the recession began in December 2007, giving the state one of the nation’s fastest-growing caseloads. Overall, 721,318 Arizonans - more than the population of Mesa and Glendale combined - were receiving assistance as of November, according to the latest report by the state Department of Economic Security, which administers the program. Tens of thousands more are eligible, federal officials estimate. As the recession deepens with no end in sight, officials across Arizona and the nation are likely to see an increasing demand for help providing food, the most basic of needs. The millions of additional people turning to food stamps are putting a further strain on taxpayers.The state ranks third in the country in the number of jobs lost since 2007. In that year, when the nation’s food-stamp list shrank nearly 1 percent, Arizona’s caseload grew nearly 1 percent. In 2008, the nation’s rolls grew 7.3 percent while Arizona’s grew 15.2 percent, records show.The price of the program also has shot up rapidly. Last year, Arizonans received more than $63 million in food-stamp aid, compared with less than $20 million in 2001. The increase, which far outpaced population growth, stemmed from a rise in both federal.Federal reports show 39 percent of eligible Arizonans did not participate in the program in 2006, the latest period studied by the USDA. By comparison, 15 percent of eligible Oregonians didn’t participate. Nationally, 33 percent of those eligible do not participate, In 2008, the average monthly benefit per person was about $102, USDA figures show. That amounts to less than $3.40 in aid per day. With no end in sight with the economy one can only assume that the numbers will continue to grow.