The Maryland demonstration was the first statewide roll-out of an electronic benefit transfer (EBT) system involving multiple programs on a single card. The goal was to confirm that a large- scale, multi-program EBT system is technically feasible and determine whether such a system can achieve cost-neutrality government-wide while maintaining high quality service for recipients. The test involved food stamps plus five cash-benefit programs: Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), Bonus Child Support for AFDC Recipients, Disability Assistance Loan Program, Non-Public Assistance Child Support, and Public Assistance for Adults. All parts of Maryland, both urban and rural, were converted to EBT.
This rule proposes to amend Food Stamp Program regulations to implement section 13914 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (Mickey Leland Childhood Hunger Relief Act), which amended section 5(k)(2)(F) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to require that the full value of any public or general assistance housing payments made to a third party on behalf of a household residing in transitional housing for the homeless be excluded from the household's income for food stamp purposes.
This action places into final form an interim Food Stamp Program rule published on June 7, 1989. The interim rulemaking implemented Food Stamp Program provisions contained in the Hunger Prevention Act of 1988.
The objectives of the demonstration were to determine the technological feasibility of offline EBT; whether it would be accepted by stakeholder groups; and whether it would be cost-effective.
This final rule expands the food stamp eligibility of certain blind and disabled individuals residing in group homes and excludes income of an SSI recipient necessary for the fulfillment of a Plan for Achieving Self Support (PASS).
This rule proposes to freeze the performance-based grants at the level the state agencies received in fiscal year 1993, for two years from promulgation of this rule in final form.