Debt Bill Dampens Chance Puerto Rico Will Get Expanded Food Aid

Puerto Rico resident Jayson Call and his wife get about $430 a month from the US government to buy groceries for themselves and their two children. If they lived on the US mainland, they’d likely get more than $600.

Residents in all 50 states, D.C., Guam, and the Virgin Islands can apply for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Plan, the largest source of US food aid. But Puerto Rico operates on a block grant system that more than three decades ago was deemed a less expensive option to cover the island’s 3 million-plus residents. The territory’s Nutrition Assistance Program shells out ...