God I miss Ed Rendell:
In a rare instance of critiquing Republican Gov. Tom Corbett’s policies since leaving office a year ago, Mr. Rendell, a Democrat, pointed to the federally mandated income limit as sufficient to determine who is eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
He contrasted that “means test,” which Pennsylvania further limited to 160 percent of the poverty level during Mr. Rendell’s administration, with the $2,000 cap on personal assets, such as personal savings, that the Department of Public Welfare has considered imposing. Senior citizens would maintain savings of $3,250, and the first vehicle owned by a household would be exempt.
“As long as you have the means test [on annual income], I don’t know why you need an asset test,” Mr. Rendell told reporters during a morning news conference, where he was flanked by a handful of House Democratic lawmakers. He also noted that most of the program’s funding comes from federal dollars, and that the state pays for half of the administrative costs.
(h/t Laura Olson)
