Food Assistance Uncertain During Shutdown

By Gordon Hopkins Two federal judges have ordered the administration of President Donald Trump to provide funding for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Despite these orders, a great deal of uncertainty remains. The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), at the direction of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), paused SNAP benefits on Wednesday, October 29 due to the federal government shutdown.The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) will be communicating with SNAP recipients regarding the status of their benefits if the shutdown continues.Current SNAP recipients may continue to use any remaining benefits on their EBT cards. Unspent SNAP funds remain accessible for nine months from the date of last use. A memorandum from the USDA states the SNAP contingency fund cannot legally used to provide benefits. According to that memo, “Instead, the contingency fund is a source of funds for contingencies, such as the Disaster SNAP program, which provides food purchasing benefits for individuals in disaster areas, including natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods, that can come on quickly and without notice.” This directly contradicts the opinion of Nebraska Appleseed, a non-profit law firm and advocacy group, which believes use of the contingency fund is not only legal but required under law. A statement issued by Nebraska Appleseed issued on October 24 indicates, “The USDA and Trump Administration are legally required to use a SNAP contingency fund to support November benefits across the country. They should use their authority to fund these benefits to prevent this unnecessary and avoidable crisis.”Two federal judges agree and have ordered the Trump Administration to use those contingency funds to fund SNAP by Wednesday of this week. Judges in Rhode Island and Massachusetts have ruled that the federal government must fund SNAP through the use of the existing $6 billion contingency fund and possibly beyond that if the shutdown continues. It is unclear if that will include Nebraska. A number of states have sued the Trump Administration to demand SNAP be funded. Nebraska was not one of those states.The Nebraska Grocery Industry Association (NGIA) issued a statement on Monday (Nov. 3), “Once the USDA decides how much of the month they will fund, it could take several days to put benefits on EBT cards. At this point, it’s unclear if the decision applies only to the states that sued, or that it will apply nationally. Many red states, including Nebraska, did not file suit. However, if the Administration is forced to fund SNAP, it seems likely they would provide funds to all states. Because of all this, it’s not immediately clear how quickly the cards will be reloaded or with how much, but benefits will not go out this weekend.“ The delay will put further strain local food banks, many of which were already struggling to meet the needs of communities even before the shutdown.The statement from NGIA also noted, “By all accounts, WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children) funding will not be immediately impacted.”

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