How this Minnesota millionaire received 'hundreds of dollars' in food stamps
A Minnesota man collected food stamps, even though he is a millionaire.
Rob Undersander will tell his story to congressional lawmakers on Thursday during a hearing on Capitol Hill about food stamps. He aims to draw attention to flaws in the current system.
Undersander said he and his wife recently retired and were living off savings while volunteering to help seniors navigate government resources and social programs when he realized he qualified for food stamps.
“At the time my wife and I were recently retired, drawing very little income living off our savings, living very well and I thought to myself, 'would I be eligible for this?' So I filled out the application and three weeks later I'm getting hundreds of [dollars' worth] of food stamps — I couldn’t believe it,” he told FOX Business’ Stuart Varney on Thursday, adding that he used an “abundance of caution” and complied with the law.
According to Undersander, in Minnesota, eligibility for the program is based on net income and assets don't apply, and when he testifies before Congress, he intends to reform the food stamp application system so that people like him can longer receive the benefits. However, he did not have success in his own state.
“After I started receiving the benefits I started working with my state representative, Mr. Jeff Howe, in crafting legislation to try to at least reform this in the state of Minnesota. And unfortunately, it was not well received by the Minnesota legislature,” he explained, adding that there were a “number of reasons” for its lack of acceptance.
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“They want people that fall on hard times, they want them to get assistance and immediately, rapidly get back on their feet so they don't have to deplete their savings and they are concerned about the administrative burden of doing the asset testing,” he said.