2014 Oregon Estimate: Additional SNAP Benefits From Excess Shelter Cost Income Deductions Were $483 Million--$172 Million More than HUD Section 8 and Public Housing Funding.

In my prior post HERE I estimated that in 2014 nationwide  the additional SNAP benefits resulting from deducting excess shelter costs (50%+) from income were 66% of combined HUD Section 8 and Public Housing funding. ($22.9 billion vs $34.4 billion).

I wondered if there was some variation at the state level with that ratio and it appears there is.

Sources:

• I used the CBPP Excel file HERE to extract Section 8 and Public Housing spending by state in 2014.
• I used the 2014 USDA SNAP summary HERE to do my calculations of the benefit of the income deduction for excess shelter cost expenses (using 30% of the value of the deduction as did CBPP in their 2002 SNAP analysis). 

CAVEAT: IF the use of 30% of excess shelter cost deduction overstates the amount of additional SNAP benefits the SNAP estimates in this post and the proceeding posts would be overstated. (The CBPP 2002 analysis that contains the 30% calculation method is the only document that I could find that attempts to quantify the additional food stamp benefit resulting from the excess shelter cost deduction from income).

My estimates are found in the 2 page PDF file HERE and embedded below. The PDF is a state list sorted by the highest to lowest ratio of the SNAP benefit from the excess shelter cost deduction to total Section 8+Public housing funding.

Observations [see caveat above]:

• Oregon was 1 of only 10 states where the benefit (additional food stamps) from the excess shelter cost income deduction was more than the spending for Section 8 and Public housing. 3 of the 10 states were in the Northwest (Idaho and Washington).
• Oregon's 155% ratio of SNAP housing related benefits to Section 8 and Public Housing spending was the 3rd highest in the country and was 2.3 times the national ratio of 66%.
• Oregon's $483 million SNAP benefit (additional food stamps) from the excess shelter cost income deduction was $172 million /55% more than the spending for Section 8 and Public housing ($311 million).
• I estimate that Oregon monthly amount per household of spending from Section 8 and Public Housing was $548, substantially higher than the $122 additional monthly housing related Oregon benefit from SNAP. [My spending estimate uses an Oregon S.8 and PH count of 47,344 HH's from the CBPP Oregon fact sheet HERE]; the USDA estimate is that there were 330,000 Oregon SNAP households using the excess shelter cost deduction in 2014].
• SNAP excess shelter cost deductions are NOT limited to renters.
• SNAP is an entitlement program and HUD rent subsidy programs are not.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.