On Friday, Gov. Josh Shapiro said his administration is taking quick action to immediately issue November Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits to Pennsylvanians who missed a payment.
The governor said the action is consistent with a federal court’s ruling Thursday requiring the Trump Administration to release 100% of SNAP or “food stamp” funds for all recipients nationwide.
As of Friday afternoon, Shapiro said, those payments were being processed and loaded onto Pennsylvanians’ electronic benefits transfer cards. As of late Friday, the governor said, approximately $100 million worth of benefits have been sent to Pennsylvania’s SNAP vendor, for loading onto EBT cards.
“No Pennsylvanian should go hungry because of federal inaction and Congressional Republicans’ failure to pass a budget,” said Gov. Shapiro, again blaming the Republican majorities in Congress for failure to end the government shutdown continued because GOP senators do not have enough votes to overcome a 60-vote cloture limit.
“Our work is not done here,” Shapiro told reporters Friday afternoon. “We will continue doing everything we can to protect access to food for Pennsylvanians.”
State officials said SNAP recipients could check their EBT card balance with the ConnectEBT app or website, and the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services strongly encouraged SNAP recipients to use ConnectEBT to keep their card locked when the card isn’t in use to protect their benefits from skimming or theft.
As of Friday evening, the Shapiro administration expected to have issued benefits to Pennsylvanians who would usually receive them during the first seven days of the month.
“I want to thank our food banks, food pantries, and every Pennsylvanian who has stepped up in some way to support our neighbors and communities. I am relieved we can issue November benefits, but there is still more work to do to ensure stability for December and beyond,” said DHS Secretary Dr. Val Arkoosh.
She also said Congressional Republicans “must work across the aisle to quickly reopen the government and protect food assistance and access to health care for the millions of people in Pennsylvania and around the country still at risk because of this continued inaction.”
Shapiro joined 24 other states and Washington, D.C., in suing the Trump Administration for unlawfully suspending SNAP payments and failing to use billions in Congressionally approved contingency funds available to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Shapiro also said Pennsylvanians can use PA Navigate to help find resources.
On Thursday, as the governor joined volunteers at a Luzerne County food bank to pack groceries, he announced that $2 million has been raised from private donors through a new SNAP Emergency Relief Fund.
He said private contributions from Pennsylvania leaders including Peggy Grove, Richard Green, Tom Hagen, Thomas Tull, Connie Williams, Mark Cuban, and David and Hallee Adelman will further strengthen support for food banks across the commonwealth.
Last week, the governor signed a declaration of disaster emergency to drive out $5 million in state funding to Feeding Pennsylvania for distribution across its network of food banks serving all 67 counties.
The governor’s lawsuit is one of two in federal court dealing with the SNAP situation.
On Thursday in the other lawsuit, U.S. District Court Judge John McConnell Jr. ordered enforcement of his first temporary restraining order and entered a second such order, that the U.S. Department of Agriculture must immediately make full payments for November to states by Friday for release to SNAP beneficiaries.
“Today is a major victory for 42 million people in America,” said Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, a key plaintiff in the other lawsuit.
“The court could not be more clear — the Trump-Vance administration must stop playing politics with people’s lives by delaying SNAP payments they are obligated to issue.”