The resumption of SNAP benefits in Massachusetts is being met with relief by many who rely on the federal food assistance program, but also with some skepticism.
On Friday, following a court order that the U.S. Department of Agriculture fully fund the program during the government shutdown, Gov. Maura Healey ordered the state to fully pay out November SNAP benefits to more than a million Massachusetts residents.
The following day, the USDA asserted that states were not authorized to send full SNAP benefits and called on states to take that money back. A federal judge blocked that effort by the USDA on Monday and the White House then asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse those court orders.
For now, SNAP accounts in Massachusetts are showing a normal balance. But the legal back-and-forth is keeping recipients like Soraya Harley of Jamaica Plain on edge. Harley receives help from SNAP to feed herself and two grandchildren. She said Monday that she’s too nervous to spend the full amount this month.
“If I don’t save, then next month comes around, who knows what they might do,” Harley said. “Because it’s like, you’re skeptical now. You don’t know what to think.”
Danielle Andrews of West Wareham, who relies on SNAP to help feed herself and her two children, said her ordinary benefit amount was deposited in her account on Friday.
“It’s a little nerve wracking to think that it could be taken away or postponed really at any moment, you know,” Andrews said. “It’s still a bit scary. But just to have it, it’s a huge relief.”
The release of SNAP funds in Massachusetts also comes as a relief to anti-hunger advocates in the state.
“I’ve been surprised all along by how much the Trump administration has fought this battle,” said Erin McAleer of the anti-hunger nonprofit Project Bread.
“These are funds that were already approved by Congress, already allocated, already available,” she said. “We saw on Friday how easy and quickly it was to get them to states and upload it on the cards. It happened in a matter of hours. We always knew it actually wasn’t as complicated as the Trump Administration was claiming it would be.”
And yet, McAleer said the administration’s consistency on the subject made Monday’s appeal to the Supreme Court an unsurprising turn of events.
“And I really agree with our governor, who says just get the money out and we’ll see him in court,” McAleer said. “So yeah, so it’s unfortunate the court battle continues, but I am grateful that in Massachusetts, people are not going to have to wait on the court’s decision to put food on the table.”
