But it\u2019s still unclear how exactly the relief should be provided, or when it will arrive for millions of families who have lost benefits.<\/p>\n
Although the orders were a win for states and the nation\u2019s SNAP recipients, they do not mean that all those recipients will be spared a lapse in their food aid, state officials stressed.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, state and local food banks scrambled over the weekend to help as the deluge of need began.<\/p>\n
Thousands of people showed up Saturday to a drive-through food distribution event at the Kia Forum in Inglewood organized by the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.<\/p>\n
Scores of volunteers for the food bank gathered outside the Forum<\/a> to serve Angelenos looking to stock their shelves and refrigerators, my colleagues reported, for what could become the longest shutdown since 2018, when the federal government was shuttered for 35 days.<\/p>\n Volunteers disbursed food containers to about 5,000 vehicles, according to the food bank. Each container had items for about 40 meals, with whole grains, fresh produce, tortillas, canned tuna, yogurt and frozen chicken.<\/p>\n Judges order funding restarted<\/p>\n Two Obama-appointed judges rejected Trump administration arguments that more than $5 billion in USDA contingency funds could not legally be tapped to continue SNAP benefits for nearly 42 million people \u2014 about 1 in 8 Americans \u2014 while the federal government remained closed.<\/p>\n The rulings came as the now monthlong shutdown continued with no immediate end in sight.<\/p>\n California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta blamed the shutdown on President Trump and his administration, The Times\u2019 Kevin Rector wrote<\/a>, and said the USDA broke the law by not tapping its contingency funds to continue payments.<\/p>\n Bonta also said SNAP benefits had never been disrupted during previous federal government shutdowns, and should never have been disrupted during this shutdown, either: \u201cThat was avoidable. Trump created this problem.\u201d<\/p>\n The Trump administration has blamed the shutdown and the disruption to SNAP benefits on Democrats in Congress, who have blocked short-term spending measures to restart the government and fund SNAP. Democrats are holding out to pressure Republicans into rescinding massive cuts to subsidies that help millions of Americans afford health insurance<\/a>.<\/p>\n Helping neighbors in need<\/p>\n U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday on CNN\u2019s \u201cState of the Union\u201d<\/a> that Trump said he \u201cneeds to hear from the courts how this is going to be done. … There\u2019s a process that has to be followed.\u201d He said it was possible the funds would flow by Wednesday. <\/p>\n In the meantime, SNAP recipients need food now.<\/p>\n Community leaders and local nonprofits have been stepping up to fill in the gap by hosting free grocery pop-up markets and other events to help out their neighbors.<\/p>\n The Times has compiled a list of ways to volunteer<\/a> in these efforts.<\/p>\n From North Hollywood to Inglewood, volunteers can help with drive-through food distribution events, packing grocery bags, and preparing and distributing meals to those who need them most.<\/p>\n Today\u2019s top stories Albert Vasquez of City Terrace votes on Oct. 25. The final day to cast a ballot is Tuesday.<\/p>\n (Allen J. Schaben\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Prop. 50 could disenfranchise Republican California votersThe Dodgers\u2019 World Series victoryHow Zone Zero, designed to protect California homes from wildfire, became plagued with controversy and delaysAfter years of delays, California\u2019s Zone Zero regulations<\/a> face a Dec. 31 deadline.But it seems likely state officials will miss that deadline as they struggle to balance fire safety with what\u2019s reasonable for homeowners.Many L.A. residents oppose the rules, which could require the removal of healthy plants from home perimeters, arguing the restrictions lack scientific evidence to justify such measures.What else is going onCommentary and opinionsThis morning\u2019s must readOther must readsFor your downtime Tokyo Noir in Long Beach offers cocktails with complexity and a dash of showmanship.<\/p>\n (Wonho Frank Lee)<\/p>\n Going outStaying inA question for you: What\u2019s the best hiking trail in SoCal?<\/p>\n Email us at essentialcalifornia@latimes.com<\/a>, and your response might appear in the newsletter this week.<\/p>\n And finally … your photo of the day (Jason Armond \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Today\u2019s great photo is from Times photographer Jason Armond in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday as Dodgers fans celebrated the team\u2019s World Series win<\/a>.<\/p>\n Have a great day, from the Essential California team<\/p>\n Jim Rainey, staff reporter How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com<\/a>. Check our top stories<\/a>, topics<\/a> and the latest articles<\/a> on latimes.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A pause in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for millions of low-income Americans, including 5.5 million Californians,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35963,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[7,2299,1085,891,2300,2297,340,2303,48,52,51,47,50,49,63,2302,1086,1459,2301,2298,74,225,315,688],"class_list":{"0":"post-35962","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-civic-revolt","10":"tag-covid","11":"tag-covid-19","12":"tag-days","13":"tag-essential-california","14":"tag-israel","15":"tag-l-a","16":"tag-la","17":"tag-la-headlines","18":"tag-la-news","19":"tag-los-angeles","20":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","21":"tag-los-angeles-news","22":"tag-los-angeles-times","23":"tag-may","24":"tag-pandemic","25":"tag-part","26":"tag-president-biden","27":"tag-red-county","28":"tag-san-diego","29":"tag-state","30":"tag-time","31":"tag-years"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35962\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} <\/a> <\/p>\n
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Hugo Mart\u00edn, assistant editor, Fast Break desk
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew Campa, Sunday writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters<\/p>\n