The Nation - News from Dec. 15, 1986

More than 2,000 Texas state employees have applied for food stamps this month because their late-December paychecks have been delayed until early January, officials say. Some of them are being certified as eligible for the assistance because they will be without a paycheck for 5 1/2 weeks, Barbara Musil, a Texas Department of Human Resources administrator, said. The pay postponement was one of the emergency measures legislators took when the drop in oil and gas prices cut the state’s income and increased its jobless rate, welfare payments and budget deficit. The Legislature put off spending $200 million until 1987.