About 22,000 more Hawaii residents will be eligible for food stamps starting next month, when the state changes income eligibility for the benefit to 200 percent of the federal poverty level.

“This will put food on the table for hungry families,” said Lillian Koller, director of the state Department of Human Services, at a news conference this morning. “It will also stimulate our troubled economy.”

Under the changes, a family of four could earn up to $50,736 a year and still qualify for food stamps.

Currently, food stamp recipients can earn up to 130 percent of the poverty level.

The income change will bring an additional $60 million in federal food stamp dollars to the state.

The change comes, though, as DHS is struggling to tackle increased applications for the food stamp program, formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

About 80 percent of SNAP applications are processed in a timely manner — or within at least 30 days for regular applications or seven days in emergency cases.

Koller said she doesn’t expect timeliness to worsen with the flood of applications because the department is also in the midst of streamlining processing in its food stamp offices.