Several states have now warned funding for food assistance programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, may not be available for November if the government shutdown continues. It comes following cuts to SNAP earlier this year.
November SNAP benefits
SNAP, more commonly called food stamps, is used by 41 million people in the U.S., making it the largest domestic food-assistance program. Nearly a dozen states have issued warnings that benefits could lose funding ahead of Thanksgiving.
“Your November SNAP benefits may be delayed or may not be provided at all, depending on what the federal government decides,” a warning from the Missouri Department of Social Services said.
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Warnings have also come in from Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Illinois, Minnesota, Oregon, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and West Virginia.
“We’re going to run out of money in two weeks,” Brooke Rollins, agriculture secretary, said last week to reporters.
With benefits expected to run out, families are taking matters into their own hands and rationing their benefits.
Contingency plan
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) does have a shutdown contingency plan to keep funds flowing for SNAP, but reports show there may not be enough money in that contingency fund.
Reports show it would cost roughly $8 billion to maintain the benefits for all Americans for November. However, CNN reports the fund to do that only has $6 billion.
The New York Times reports the plan could also prioritize what funds they do have to get to those who need it most. Several of the states including New York and Illinois have already said they would not be able to provide funding with state money.
In order to fund WIC, a program designed to help pregnant women and new mothers, the Trump administration has used money collected from customs duties. The USDA could reportedly do that but it’s unlikely to generate enough money to fund WIC and SNAP.
A lawyer the New York Times spoke with said the USDA could use a current law to keep the funds flowing.
“The simplest approach for the USDA would be to recognize that language in the Food and Nutrition Act makes SNAP an entitlement independent of appropriations, and continue paying benefits on the strength of that language,” David Super, a law professor at Georgetown University, told the Times.
SNAP issues
These latest issues with SNAP come ahead of a Nov. 1 deadline set in President Donald Trump’s budget bill passed earlier this year to change who’s eligible for the benefits. That change will reduce federal spending on SNAP by nearly $200 billion over the next decade.
Specifically, it changes work requirements related to the benefits. Able-bodied adults without young children will need to prove they worked at least 80 hours per month or are pursuing an education or training program to continue getting the benefits.
The new rules will eliminate several exceptions to those requirements. It currently only applies to those aged 18-54 but will now apply to people up to age 65.
Parents with dependents under the age of 18 were also exempt but that’s changed to only those with dependents under 14.
