
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, July 29, 1995                   TAG: 9507310062
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                 LENGTH: Short

FOOD STAMP ROLLS ARE ON THE SLIDE

The number of Americans collecting food stamps fell again in May, continuing a trend that began in mid-1994 after four years of growth swelled the rolls of the government's largest welfare program to record highs.

The Clinton administration used the latest participation rates, released Friday, to suggest that the president's economic policies were responsible for shrinking the food stamp rolls.

A conservative Republican, Sen. Lauch Faircloth of North Carolina, disputed those claims, calling them ``ridiculous'' and saying welfare reforms under way in the states that require recipients to work for their benefits are responsible for moving people off food stamps.

``This is what we've said all along. Any time you put recipients to work, people will abandon food stamps,'' Faircloth said.

According to the Agriculture Department, 26.47 million people received food stamps in May, compared with 27.5 million a year ago. May's participation rates were also down from April, when there were 26.73 million people on the rolls.

The department said May was the 10th month in a row in which food stamp participation rates were lower when compared with a year ago.

The shrinking rolls have saved taxpayers $400 million since August, said Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman. The program spends $23 billion a year on benefits.

``This clear reversal of the program growth that occurred between 1989 and 1994 is a tangible sign that the Clinton administration's economic policies are working,'' Glickman said.

by CNB