Campbell v. US Dept. of Agriculture, Civ. A. No. 80-0282.

• Decision Date: 04 June 1981
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 80-0282.
• Parties: James CAMPBELL, et al., Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Columbia

515 F. Supp. 1239

James CAMPBELL, et al., Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, et al., Defendants.

Civ. A. No. 80-0282.

United States District Court, District of Columbia.

June 4, 1981.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Brenda Gibbs-Moore, Cynthia G. Schneider, Kathleen McKee, Jack Mark Stolier, Food Research and Action Center, Inc., Washington, D. C., Lucy Billings, Utah Legal Services, Salt Lake City, Utah, James Dimitri, Neighborhood Legal Services Program, Charleston, S. C., for plaintiffs.

Lewis K. Wise, Brian G. Kennedy, Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., for defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

JOYCE HENS GREEN, District Judge.

This action was originally brought in early 1980 to compel defendants United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW, now the Department of Health and Human Services or HHS), and the Secretaries of those Departments to promulgate final regulations implementing the provision of the Food Stamp Act of 1977, P.L. 95-113, 91 Stat. 979, 7 U.S.C. §§ 2011 et seq., requiring establishment of a system whereby eligible Supplemental Security Income (SSI) applicants and recipients could apply for food stamps at their social security offices. Defendant USDA administers the food stamp program, while defendant HHS administers the SSI program. The two individual plaintiffs, James Campbell and Jane Doe, (a fictitious name), allege that they are SSI recipients who are eligible for, and in need of food stamps, but cannot participate in the program because of various practical difficulties, primarily lack of transportation and inability to cope with the long lines at food stamp offices due to health problems and disabilities. They further allege that if a food stamp application could have been processed in conjunction with an SSI review at their social security office, their participation in the food stamp program would have been assured. Plaintiff Utah State Coalition of Senior Citizens (USCSC) is a voluntary membership organization composed of over 4,000 members over age 55, some of whom are alleged to be SSI recipients who are eligible to participate in the food stamp program, but cannot do so because of the lack of certification facilities at the social security office. Plaintiff Utahns Against Hunger (UAH) is alleged to be a voluntary membership organization of participants and potential participants in the SSI and food stamp programs and their representatives.

Food stamps and SSI are two separate programs with potential to assist the low income aged, blind and disabled. The food stamp program is designed to alleviate hunger and malnutrition among low income households by directly increasing their food purchasing power. State agencies implement the program. 7 U.S.C. §§ 2012(h) and 2024(b). The state agencies develop food stamp application forms, accept applications from potentially eligible households, verify information contained in the application, and certify the household for participation in the program. 7 U.S.C. § 2019. The SSI program is authorized under Title XVI of the Social Security Act, P.L. 92-603, 42 U.S.C. §§ 1381 et seq. (1973). It establishes a minimal annual income for the nations' aged, blind and disabled, and is administered directly by the federal government through the Social Security Administration (SSA) of defendant HHS. Current benefits under the SSI program for persons with no other source of income are $238 per month for an individual and $375 for a couple. These amounts will be increased to $264.70 and $397, respectively in July of 1981. If an SSI recipient has other income, he or she will receive an amount such that total income exceeds the amounts set forth above by $20. Thus the total maximum monthly income of an individual SSI recipient at this time is $258.

The Food Stamp Act was reauthorized and amended in 1977, and in 1980 the Act was again amended and the authorization levels for fiscal years 1980 and 1981 were raised. At both times, Congress expressed an intent to continue a program which had been shown to be essential in the reduction of the grave problems of hunger and malnutrition existing in this country, and to increase the participation of those in need, while eliminating certain categories of less needy households from the program and preventing fraud and abuse. See Food Stamp Act of 1977, H.R.Rep. No. 95-464, 95th Cong., 1st Sess. (1977), U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 1977, p. 1704, (hereinafter 1977 House Report); Food Stamp Act Amendments of 1980, H.R.Rep. No. 96-788, 96th Cong., 2d Sess. (1980), U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 1980, p. 843, (hereinafter 1980 House Report).

In preparation for the 1977 legislation, the House Committee on Agriculture undertook a comprehensive study to collect basic information about how the program actually operates, who participates, what the incomes of participants are, and to determine the nature and extent of administrative problems. The study explored, inter alia, why obviously needy groups such as SSI recipients had such a low participation rate in the program (40 to 50%). In 1975 and 1976, the Committee sent questionnaires on the food stamp program to local and state administrators and community groups. The responses indicated that lack of transportation, complex and confusing program rules, restrictive income and resource limitations, and the "welfare stigma" were substantial barriers to participation in the food stamp program by SSI recipients. The Committee was "quite concerned about dealing with the barriers confronting the elderly, blind and disabled and therefore included specific provisions to enhance their current unacceptably low participation ..." 1977 House Report at 98, U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 1977, p. 2076. These included the provision which is at issue here, which was intended "to lessen the significant burden of forcing SSI recipients to deal with two different offices in order to qualify for SSI and food stamps." This amendment, now 7 U.S.C. § 2020(i)(2), and (j),¹ required the Secretary of Agriculture in conjunction with the Secretary of HEW (now HHS) to prescribe regulations permitting SSI households to apply for food stamps at SSA offices by executing a simplified affidavit there utilizing information contained in the SSA files. "Simplified affidavit" was changed to "simple application" in 1980. (See discussion below.) The purpose of the 1977 amendment was to "accomplish food stamp application and certification for SSI recipients as efficiently and conveniently as possible." House Report at 97-98, U.S. Code Cong. & Admin.News 1977, p. 2076. At the same time, in keeping with the goal of encouraging participation of the needy, while insuring fairness and elimination of the non-needy, the Committee rejected "automatic" eligibility for food stamps for SSI recipients, requiring such households to meet all the eligibility tests (except work registration) applied to other applicants. Id.

In 1980, Congress passed legislation increasing authorization for appropriations for the food stamp program for fiscal years 1980 and 1981, in order to assure that over "19 million needy Americans in more than 6 million households are going to continue to be able to buy sufficient food to avoid hunger and malnutrition and the social, economic, and personal harm that accompanies them." 1980 House Report at 12, U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 1980, p. 845. At the same time, amendments were included to deter error and punish abuse; to feed the needy and terminate the greedy. Id. at 12-13. The Committee found that although there were some abuses requiring correction, the image of people driving Cadillacs to buy expensive steaks with food stamps was a total misconception. The shocking reality demonstrates that the average food stamp recipient as of December 1979 had less than 36 cents worth of food stamps to use for each meal, or $32.82 per person per month.

According to a medical study funded by the Field Foundation, diseases of malnutrition evident among poor and hungry American children in 1967 had greatly diminished by 1979. In the view of the authors of the study, the dramatic difference found, including a 33% decline in infant mortality, and greater than 50% reduction in infant deaths from causes related directly to poverty and malnutrition, was primarily a result of the food stamp program. The report concluded that the food stamp program "is the most valuable health dollar spent by the Federal Government." 1980 House Report at 14, U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 1980, p. 847.

The provision which is the subject of this lawsuit was amended in 1980. The Committee reaffirmed that the purpose of the provision was to "lessen the significant burden of forcing SSI recipients to deal with two different offices in order to qualify for both programs." 1980 House Report at 133, U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 1980, p. 966. However, it reported that unfortunately a shortened and simplified affidavit that could be used nationwide by SSA for joint application for both programs could not be worked out, because much of the information needed to determine food stamp eligibility is not needed to determine SSI eligibility, there being considerable differences in income and asset definitions and exclusions in the two programs. Therefore, the language of the provision was changed from "simple affidavit" to "simple application" so that state agencies could use the national food stamp application form or a comparable state form no more lengthy or complex. The Committee stated that "there will be no greater burden upon clients under this approach as long as the SSI caseworker fills out that application form during the SSI interview and then forwards the form to the appropriate food stamp office." Id. at 134, U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 1980, p. 967.

At the time this lawsuit was filed, more than two years after enactment of the provision mandating regulations...