Page 4
August 21, 2019
MCS Still in
Business
Martin
Cleaning
Service
Carpet & Upholstery
Cleaning
Residential &
Commercial Services
Minimum Service CHG.
$50.00
A small distance/travel
charge may be applied
CARPET CLEANING
2 Cleaning Areas or more
$30.00 each Area
Pre-Spray Traffic Areas
(Includes: 1 small Hallway)
1 Cleaning Area (only)
$50.00
Includes Pre-Spray Traffic Area
and Hallway
Stairs (12-16 stairs - With
Other Services) : $30.00
Heavily Soiled Area:
$10.00 each area
(Requiring Pre-Spray)
Area/Oriental Rug Cleaning
Regular Area Rugs
$25.00 Minimum
Wool Oriental Rugs
$40.00 Minimum
UPHOLSTERY
CLEANING
Sofa: $70.00
Loveseat: $50.00
Sectional: $110 - $140
Chair or Recliner:
$25.00 - $50.00
Throw Pillows (With
Other Services) : $5.00
ADDITIONAL
SERVICES
• Auto/Boat/RV Cleaning
• Deodorizing & Pet
Odor Treatment
• Spot & Stain
Removal Service
• Scotchguard Protection
• Minor Water Damage
Services
Call for Appointment
(503) 281-3949
Advocates for the hungry decry proposal
C ontinueD From F ront
due announced the new directives
last month, describing them as
“closing a loophole,” but the new
rules would disrupt Oregon and 42
other states’ streamline of the pro-
cess for their citizens to receive
food benefits.
The rule change would see
66,000 of the some 600,000 Or-
egonians on SNAP benefits lose
their coverage—or 34,990 house-
holds— Jennifer Grentz, Oregon
Department of Human Services
spokesperson, told the Portland
Observer.
Jeff Kleen, public policy advo-
cate for the Oregon Food Bank,
said the agency is “very con-
cerned” over the new rule.
“We had heard rumors that this
proposed rule could come, partic-
ularly because this has become
kind of routine for this administra-
tion to propose these administra-
tive rules when it doesn’t get the
provisions and bills that it wants
from Congress,” Kleen said.
The technical name for the rule
targeted is “broad based categor-
ical eligibility,” Kleen explained.
Currently, recipients of tempo-
rary welfare assistance can earn
up to 185 percent of the federal
poverty level for their household
and still qualify for food stamps,
a higher level than the typical 130
percent federal poverty level cut
off for food stamps alone.
photo by D anny p eterson /t he p ortlanD o bserver
Jeff Kleen, public policy advocate for Oregon Food Bank, expects negative impacts on hunger and
food insecurity for thousands of people in Oregon should a Trump Administration policy go through
that would restrict the number of people eligible for food stamps nationwide.
In either case, the amount of
earnings would not be sufficient
to a livable wage for most Orego-
nians, Kleen said.
For instance, 185 percent of
the federal poverty level for a
family of four is $47,638, accord-
ing to U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services. However
$96,047 per year is the estimated
wage a family of two adults and
two children would need to make
to afford a modest two bedroom
apartment, childcare, and other
costs in the Portland metro area,
according to the family budget
calculator of Economic Policy In-
stitute, a nonprofit and nonpartisan
think tank addressing the needs of
low- and middle-income workers
in economic policy discussions.
The policy as it stands now
allows families to pay for unex-
pected monthly costs without go-
ing hungry or missing their bills,
Kleen said.
“It basically prevents families
from going without food, falling
into debt when unexpected costs
come up. And that cost could be
the car repair that someone needs
to get to their job, get their kids to
school, or get a medical appoint-
ment,” he said.
Another potential ripple effect
of the new policy is that some
families—an estimated 265,000
nationwide--may also lose free
school meals for their children,
Kleen said.
“They’d have to go through,
again another process, to see if
they would qualify for reduced
price meals. But now if you have
two or three kids and sudden-
ly you’re facing 50 to 75 cents a
meal, that adds up over a week for
breakfast and lunch. And so that
would be an additional loss on top
of losing SNAP benefits.”
What’s more, Kleen said that
the demand Oregon Food Bank
faces would likely increase should
the policy change go through.
“For every one meal that the
nationwide food bank network
provides, SNAP provides 12. So
the scale at which SNAP provides
food assistance compared to us is
12 fold.”
Kleen added that the Oregon
Department of Human Services
reported that every county across
the state is likely to be impacted,
with big, urban counties being ini-
tially hit the hardest, should the
rule change become finalized.
Though the USDA estimates a
net savings of about $9.4 billion to
taxpayers over five years, research
referenced in the federal agency’s
own report indicated that for ev-
ery dollar of SNAP benefits that
is spent, it was offset by creating
$1.79 of new economic activity.
Officials also conceded that the
cuts will impact food security for
some people and reduce the sav-
ings rates among those individu-
als.
The change would mean a loss
of $3 million of federal benefits in
Oregon each month—or $36 mil-
lion over a year, Kleen said.
Oregon Food Bank and Hun-
ger Free Oregon, another nu-
trition advocacy group in Port-
land, have been overseeing an
effort to generate as many pub-
lic comments against the new
rules, hopefully 100,000 or
more, which Kleen said “will
at the very least slow down the
USDA,” adding that by law, the
agency must review and analyze
each of the comments.
“Hopefully they will see the
error of their ways and decide not
to issue a final rule. Or we poten-
tially give Congress time to take
action and prevent it from going
into place or being implemented.”
The public can make comments
on the proposed rule change at
regulations.gov from now until
Sept. 23. The policy proposal is
called “Revision of Categorical
Eligibility in the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program”
and has already generated over
13,000 comments.