US states warn food aid benefits will halt if federal shutdown drags on

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By Leah Douglas and P.J. Huffstutter

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. states this week warned food aid recipients that their benefits may not be distributed in November if the federal government shutdown stretches into its fourth week.

Warnings issued on at least two dozen state websites flag the potential for an unprecedented benefit gap for more than 41 million people who get aid from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps, and the nearly 7 million who receive aid from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC.

Such a gap threatens to further increase rising hunger rates in the U.S. The administration of President Donald Trump this year shrunk federal funding for food banks and is rolling out heightened work requirements for SNAP that could push some people off the program.

“Families are going to be hurt by this should it continue, at a time we know families are struggling to make ends meet,” said Minerva Delgado, director of coalitions and advocacy at the Alliance to End Hunger.

Minnesota, California, Pennsylvania and Texas are among states that said November benefits will not be issued if the shutdown continues through next week.

Reuters spoke with representatives of 11 national and state anti-hunger groups and food banks who said they were preparing SNAP and WIC recipients in their communities for benefits disruptions. 

If benefits are not delivered, more people would skip meals or make other sacrifices, like falling behind on bills, to keep their families fed, said Chris Bernard, CEO of Hunger Free Oklahoma.

An Agriculture Department spokesperson called the looming risk to food aid an “inflection point for Democrats.”

Democrats and Republicans have traded blame for the shutdown, now the second longest in U.S. history. Democrats have withheld votes on a spending bill in an effort to keep health insurance costs from soaring for many Americans. 

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told NewsNation on Tuesday that SNAP benefits would “go away” without a deal to reopen the government by November.

FOOD BANKS UNDER STRAIN

Some of the two dozen states that posted warnings listed earlier potential food stamp cutoff deadlines. “SNAP benefits for November won’t be issued if the federal government shutdown continues past Oct. 27,” says the Texas Health and Human Services Commission website.

Some states pointed aid recipients to food banks. “We encourage everyone who receives SNAP to familiarize themselves with the free food resources in their community and to make a plan for what they will do if they do not receive their food benefits in November on time,” said the Oregon Department of Human Services in a release.

Food banks and state anti-hunger groups told Reuters they are trying to increase fundraising, but that pantries are already strained by record demand and cannot replace SNAP and WIC benefits. 

“This could get really bad. We’re already serving more people than before COVID,” said Jim Conwell, vice president of communications for the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

UNUSUAL BENEFIT DELAYS

During federal shutdowns, food aid benefits typically continue uninterrupted because the shutdowns are brief or because the USDA works with states on contingency plans. During this shutdown, states have had unusually little communication from the USDA. 

The agency told states on October 10 not to send benefit recipient information to their electronic benefit transfer processors as they typically would in preparation for distributing the following month’s benefits. But it has not issued further instruction, according to EBT processor Conduent, which works with 37 states. 

States are now hurrying to identify possible emergency funds, though not all will have money available, Conduent said.

The USDA has about $5 billion in contingency funds it could use to partially fund a month of SNAP benefits, which cost about $8 billion, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

The agency did not respond to questions about whether it intended to draw on those funds.

The Trump administration earlier this month funneled about $300 million in tariff revenue to fund October WIC benefits, but has not signaled whether it will do so again for November, said Georgia Machell, CEO of the National WIC Association.

Without additional funds, Machell said, November could see a “historic disruption to WIC services.”

(Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington and P.J. Huffstutter in Chicago; Editing by Bill Berkrot)