CORRECTION — Stacy Brown’s March 29 story, “DPW: ‘You cannot qualify for benefits just because you go on strike,’” inaccurately characterized changes to the state’s food stamp policy. The implementation of the new asset test for food stamp recipients will have no impact on the existing policy that prevents striking workers from receiving benefits. PA Independent and the Franklin Center regret the error.
The following was provided by Department of Public Welfare spokeswoman Anne Bale in an effort to set the record straight:
The basis of the inaccuracy is that the implementation of the asset test and the inability to get food stamps because an individual is on strike are unrelated. When I spoke with the reporter earlier this week he simply asked if people on strike could qualify for food stamps. There was never any mention of the asset test.
Here are the two points to keep in mind.
1. The story implies that it’s a new policy that strikers won’t be able to get food stamps just because they’re on strike. This is not new. The rule about strikers has been in place for over a decade, so it makes no sense to state that “Unions Lose in Food Stamp Fight” when they have long been subject to this rule.
2, I was not asked about striking in connection with the asset test and was only responding to being asked if individuals could get food stamps while on strike. So, the following statement attributed to me is misleading: “Under the new test which begins May 1, DPW spokeswoman Anne Bale said, only workers who have qualified for SNAP before going on strike can receive benefits during a strike.” The longtime rule about strikers has nothing to do with the new asset test policy scheduled to take effect May 1.
