Utah Wants to Rename the Food Stamp Program

Back in 2008, Utah experienced a massive economic tailspin, and 55,000 families in Utah were on food stamps. According to recent reports, that number has more than doubled to 115,000. Since nothing resembling a stamp has been issued in a long time, some are calling for a name change for the government program in Utah. Like most states, Utah adopted the debit-style EBT card that holds an account where the "food stamp" money is deposited, allowing people to move away from paper coupon, which was often lost, stolen or used fraudulently.

The federal government did rename the program in 2008 since states were no longer using food stamps, but the program was not changed in every state to the new name. The federal government only applied the name or Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) to the name for food assistance in the country. Bill Tibbits of the Crossroads Urban Center wants to do more for those in Utah to change the name. That's why he has been working with Representative Rebecca Chavez-Houck in Salt Lake City to work on a bill for the upcoming session that would explore renaming options for Utah and finally rename the program to SNAP to keep along with the rest of the country. However, the simple name change may actually be asking too much, as the cost to rename it would be a little high.

"My feeling is that if there is a way we can be more in line with other states, then it's a modest fix we should consider making," Chavez-Houck says.

However, some question the value of the name change at a time when state budgets are at their tightest. According to the Utah Department of Workforce Services, the tab for the name change would actually cost the state $250,000. For Tibbits, the program needs the update to do away with the stigma of the old program as being shameful or prone to abuse.

"Changing the problem name is one way of drawing attention to the fact that this is not the same program that was demonized in the '70s and '80s." said Tibbits.

vHowever, with a pricetag of a quarter of a million dollars. It's not likely that Utah will get the name change this year. There have already been cuts to other programs and education that could have used the money that would be spent simply trying to polish up the food stamp's logo on the website. Eventually, the name change must occur in order to keep up with other states, but it's a matter of when that is trouble to those who work for Utah's food assistance program.