A car won’t drive away your chance at food stamps

The director of Iowa’s Department of Human Services says poor Iowans who own a car who haven’t been eligible for food stamps may soon qualify for government food aid. D-H-S director Kevin Concannon says previous rules used to bar food assistance to folks who owned a car worth two-thousand dollars or more. He says that meant some folks who owned a car but were out of work couldn’t get food stamps. A new state law allows Iowans to own a car, but not count its value when calculating their assets. Concannon says it means more down-on-their-luck Iowans will qualify for food stamps. Concannon says 30 percent of the Iowans who get food stamps are working, but they’re earning minimum wage and making so little they qualify for government food aid. Concannon expects more of Iowa’s working poor to qualify for food stamps now.