The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program’s funding was put on pause on Nov. 1 in response to the federal government shutdown that went into effect at midnight on Oct. 1.
With the forced stop of these resources, state officials have been distributing emergency state funding to those directly affected.
“Connecticut families should not go hungry because of Washington’s dysfunction,” Governor Lamont said in a press release on Oct. 27. “While this $3 million in emergency funding will not fill the entire gap left by the federal government, it represents our state’s commitment to supporting our neighbors during this crisis. We are stepping up because Connecticut takes care of its own and we will continue working to support our residents until this federal shutdown is resolved.”
A memo was released on Oct. 24 by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) stating that the government department will not be allocating its $6 billion contingency fund to support the program, as said in the press release.
The release continued to state that the department would not reimburse states if they were to cover the costs themselves.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong joined a coalition of 26 states to sue the USDA, Secretary Brooke Rollins and the Trump Administration on Oct. 28 for unlawfully suspending the operation of SNAP.
Following Tong’s involvement in this suit, a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts ruled that the USDA must utilize its contingency fund to support SNAP recipients.
“USDA had until the end of the day today to report to the Court whether it would partially or fully fund the SNAP program, using additional available funds that have been tapped during prior shutdowns,” as said in the Nov. 3 press release from Tong’s office.
“Donald Trump is purposely and illegally starving American families for political leverage,” Tong said in a press release on Nov. 3. “We sued to force him to release these contingency funds—paid for by taxpayers and obligated by Congress to help Americans buy food at a time when grocery prices are already out of control.”
Tong continued, because of this lawsuit, “these dollars now will make their way to EBT cards and that is important relief for the 366,000 people in Connecticut relying on these funds to eat.”
SNAP is a national food assistance program that provides “food benefits to low-income families to supplement their grocery budget,” as stated on their website.
This program, formerly the Food Stamp Program, was piloted during the Great Depression in 1939 and was relaunched in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy, according to the National Library of Medicine.
The program was renamed to SNAP following the passing of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008.
It’s funded by the USDA and is responsible for “establishing the regulations that carry out the law and providing states with direction in running the program,” according to Benefits Plus Learning Center.
For more information on SNAP benefit eligibility or resources in the state of Connecticut, visit the Department of Social Services website.