By Jack Tomczuk
President Donald Trump’s administration intends to partially fund SNAP benefits for November, in response to a pair of court decisions ruling that the federal government must tap into backup dollars for the food assistance program.
About 472,000 Philadelphians, or 30% of the city’s population, are enrolled in SNAP, which stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and was previously known as food stamps.
Leaders at the state and local levels have taken action in recent days to support food banks after the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced late last month that payments were suspended due to the ongoing federal government shutdown.
That additional help will likely still be needed. In court filings, USDA administrators said SNAP’s contingency account will only be able to provide 50% of normal funding levels. Information about the exact amounts that will be loaded onto participants’ Electronic Benefits Transfer cards are pending.
Patrick A. Penn, the department’s deputy under secretary of food, nutrition, and consumer services, wrote in a legal document Monday that processing the reduced payments “will take anywhere from a few weeks to up to several months” in some states. While SNAP is federally funded, the program is administered by state agencies.
Mayor Cherelle Parker was scheduled to meet privately late Monday afternoon with executives from food aid organizations and city officials to discuss Philadelphia’s response to the situation.
On Saturday, she said her administration would be allocating $7 million to address concerns with food insecurity and the shutdown. Officials said $4 million would be directed to food distribution nonprofits, complementing a $6 million fund established by local philanthropic organizations.
An additional $1.5 million is being set aside for emergency rental assistance for furloughed federal employees, and $1 million is going to the city’s Department of Human Services to provide food assistance to the most vulnerable families, according to the Parker administration. Half a million dollars is being put toward grants for small businesses impacted by the EBT shortfall.
City Council is planning to hold a hearing at 10 a.m. Wednesday for testimony about the SNAP benefit interruptions, along with new work requirements and eligibility restrictions.
Gov. Josh Shapiro on Friday signed a disaster declaration to expedite a $5 million payment of state funds to Feeding Pennsylvania, which plans to distribute the money to regional food banks.
The Shapiro administration signed onto a multi-state lawsuit last week challenging the Trump administration’s decision to withhold SNAP benefits, one of two legal cases that resulted in Monday’s move to restore partial payments.
Penn, the USDA official, said the department considered transferring $4 billion from a fund for child nutrition programs to completely cover SNAP benefits for November but determined the move could threaten those youth-focused initiatives, which include school meal programs.