Massachusetts officials are “ready to go” to distribute reduced SNAP benefits once the money arrives from the federal government, Gov. Maura Healey said Monday.
Responding to rulings from federal judges, President Donald Trump’s administration said Monday it will pay out partial SNAP benefits for the month of November as the federal government shutdown continues.
Federal officials kept the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program running during past shutdowns by using emergency accounts, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture planned to freeze this month’s benefits without government funding in place. The move prompted lawsuits from Democratic attorneys general, including Massachusetts’ Andrea Joy Campbell.
Healey said that not paying out the food benefits was the wrong decision, both legally and morally. Funding a portion of the benefits is “not enough,” she said.
“You need to pay all benefits, and you need to pay all benefits for the duration of this federal shutdown,” she told reporters. “Certainly, the state Department of Transitional Assistance is ready to go as soon as those funds come through the door. But once again, Donald Trump has a choice to make. Are you going to feed Americans, or are you going to continue to cut them off from food?”
Healey’s office said it’s not yet clear when the money will be made available. The DTA is providing updates for SNAP recipients on its website.
Anti-hunger organizations sharply criticized the partial funding. Project Bread CEO Erin McAleer told GBH News that, on top of recipients getting less support, the partial funding will create needless confusion.
That uncertainty, she said, comes as food pantries face unprecedented demand, even when compared to the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Our Project Bread food source hotline has already seen four times the increase in volume compared to other busy times. One of our pantry partners distributed more food to more clients in one day this past week than during the entire week of late March of 2020,” she said.
Liz Miller with the food recovery organization Spoonfuls also pointed to the confusion for SNAP recipients, adding that households in need will have even less support.
“They’re going to have to make really difficult decisions,” she said. “Can they buy all of the food that they need and want? Do they choose to skip some of that food or do they pay their heating bill or their medical bills? So, impossible decisions will remain really, really difficult for folks with just a partial payment of SNAP this month.”
Federal judges in Massachusetts and Rhode Island ruled last week that the government must pay at least some SNAP benefits in November, using an existing contingency fund. That account does not have enough money to cover the $8 billion monthly cost of SNAP.
More than a million people in Massachusetts rely on SNAP, according to Healey’s office. Almost a third are children, and more than a quarter are seniors.
The governor last week announced she would advance $4 million dollars in state funding to food banks, on top of a regular monthly payment from the Massachusetts Emergency Food Assistance program, to help meet an expected surge in demand.
Healey has also offered advance payments to six Head Start early childhood education programs. She said Monday that without that money, 2,000 kids would be without child care.
“All around, this is a terrible situation, what’s happening. And I just call on the president to end it,” Healey said. “You know, he’s in control of all three branches right now down there — House, Senate and the White House. Do your job. Get back to work.”
Trump said in a Monday social media post that he does not want Americans to go hungry and laid blame for the shutdown on Democrats who are are holding out in a bid to force negotiations on expiring health care subsidies.
Some Republican state legislators have called for Massachusetts to use state dollars to avoid a lapse in food assistance. Anti-hunger advocates want to see the state use its $8 billion “rainy day” savings account to continue food benefits, though Healey and top lawmakers have said that Massachusetts can’t afford to take on the cost of SNAP.
“We’re doing what we can, but we can’t backfill all of the federal cuts because there may be even more coming,” state Senate President Karen Spilka said Monday.
