Texas screws up food stamps again

The Texas poor face hunger, children without adequate food. Texas denied food stamps to eligible recipients for too long. Apparently, republicans miscalculated benefits when the hungry finally got them.

The federal government is fining Texas $3.96 million because the state has made so many mistakes in figuring the amount of people's food stamp benefits.

The state exceeded the national average payment error rate in 2009 for the second year in a row, according to a letter from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Errors include underpayments and, more commonly, over payments.

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Celia Hagert of the Center for Public Policy Priorities, which advocates for programs for lower-income Texans, said overpayments, like underpayments, can be a hardship for recipients because the state recovers the money when the error is determined. “That's cash out of their pockets that they have to pay back,” in an amount sometimes accumulated over months, she said.