Although many rural Hawaii residents receiving federal food assistance face higher prices than those in urban Honolulu, current U.S. law on the Supplemental Nutrition Program (SNAP) program, once known as “food stamps,” bases its grants to Hawaii recipients on Honolulu’s food costs.

Hawaii’s U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda’s Feeding Rural Families Act would amend SNAP formulas to take regional disparities into account. There is precedent: SNAP funding for Alaska, unlike Hawaii, factors in these regional costs.

Seems fair to calculate food assistance by actual need — rather than the political pull of any one state.