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On June 24, Governor Lemanu PS Mauga announced that in July 2024 the territory will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the American Samoa ASNAP.
“I urge everyone, especially ASNAP recipients, to celebrate this important milestone.
“We recount and reflect on the impact ASNAP has had on the American Samoa economy and on ASNAP recipients and their families by supplementing their food budgets, enabling them to access nutritious foods that are critical to better health and overall well-being.”
background
On June 12, 1991, Congressman Faleomavaega Eni Hunkin approved a proposal by his Washington, D.C. Special Assistant (Muavaefa’atasi) John E. Suisala to seek to expand the Food Stamp Program and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) to American Samoa and, in consultation with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), to adjust the Food Stamp Program to benefit only low-income elderly, blind, and disabled persons and to make other modifications appropriate for American Samoa. Despite significant progress, local opposition to the extension of federal welfare programs to the Territory has hampered further progress.
On January 21, 1993, after being elected as the second Governor, AP Lutali met with Congressman Faleomavaega to inform him of his intention to pursue two programs that Congressman Faleomavaega wanted to implement in American Samoa. They agreed to work together to extend the modified Food Stamp Program and the WIC Program to American Samoa. Governor Lutali was in Washington, D.C. for President Bill Clinton’s inauguration and that day submitted a request to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy to extend the modified Food Stamp Program to American Samoa.
Upon returning from Washington, D.C., Governor Lutali established a task force to provide all information and technical assistance required for this purpose and designated (Muavaefa’atasi) John E. Suisala as American Samoa’s lead negotiator with the federal government. The task force consisted of TAOA Director Fuiavailili Mata’u Taele, the Governor’s Chief Legal Counsel Tuinei Tauivi, OPAD Director Mina Thompson, Executive Assistant to the Governor Solagaliua Solaita, and Dr. Oreta Crichton, Special Assistant to Congressman Faleomavaega’s Regional Office.
Negotiations between the ASG and USDA successfully established the American Samoa Nutrition Assistance Program (ASNAP) – the only modified and simplified food stamp program in the United States that benefits only low-income seniors, the blind, and the disabled.
The first annual Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) and ASG was signed in May 1994 by FNS Western Region Administrator Sharon Levinson and Governor Lutali. The MOU established, administered, and funded ASNAP in the amount of $5.3 million in fiscal year 1994.
In June 1994, Governor Lutali appointed John E. Suisala as Director of ASNAP.
In early July 1994, Governor Luthari joined hundreds of senior citizens, disabled persons, and government leaders in the official opening of ASNAP. First Lady Suzanne Luthari distributed the first ASNAP food vouchers to an elderly mother, a blind father, and a disabled youth. Governor Luthari called it “a happy day for me and for all who came to witness the opening.”
When ASNAP first opened in 1994, 3,600 elderly, blind and disabled people received benefits at a cost of $5.3 million per year. Today, nearly 5,000 elderly, blind and disabled people receive benefits of up to $177 per month at a cost of $11.7 million per year.
Muavaefa’atasi John E. Suisala is currently the Director of the Department of Social Services, which administers not only ASNAP but also many other federally funded social services and programs such as Women, Infants and Children, Child Care, and Child and Family Services.
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