State Food Stamp Call Centers

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In an editorial, "Outsourcing is Still In," that appears in the February 2005 issue of SD Magazine (apparently not online yet, www.sdmagazine.com/articles/2005/0502), Alexandria Weber Morales describes accidently catching part of a TV interview where the ITAA's Harris Miller expressed reservations about pending federal legislation (the agriculture appropriations bill and an amendment to the American Jobs Creation Act) that would block tax dollars from being spent on government services that are outsourced offshore. In the interview, he pointed out that "forty-one states have call centers outside the U.S. for their food-stamp programs." Confused? When Morales contacted him for clarification, Miller explained that "We don't care about call centers; we do care about stupid laws that prevent the global market from working" and that "If you spend 40% more on call centers, that's 40% less for food stamps."

What do you think?

Related:
"ITAA Cries Foul on Food Stamp Program Provision," where the ITAA "(ITAA) criticized a House passed amendment this month that would bar states from using federal funds to pay for food stamp program costs if program operations take place offshore" at http://newsletters.itaa.org/public/issue.php?ID=167#a1071


In a July 2004 article, Network World's Carolyn Duffy Marsan reported on legislation affecting states' and federal offshoring, pointing out that government spending accounts for about 30% of US spending. http://www.nwfusion.com/supp/2004/offshoring/0705hot.html