The massive tax cuts and spending bill signed by Trump earlier this year is expected by the Congressional Budget Office<\/a> to slash SNAP funding by up to 20% by 2034.<\/p>\n
Nearly 2 million Pennsylvanians who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will not receive their November payments due to Congress\u2019 failure to enact a federal budget.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The U.S. Department of Agriculture sent a letter on Oct. 10 to all state directors of SNAP ordering them to \u201chold\u201d on sending all November payments to retailers that participate in the program.<\/p>\n
Signed by Sasha Gersten-Paal, SNAP program development director, the letter warns there will be \u201cinsufficient funds\u201d to pay SNAP benefits for about 42 million recipients nationwide if the government shutdown continues through October.<\/p>\n
That outcome seems nearly unavoidable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Democrats continue to demand that an extension of Obamacare subsidies slated to expire at the end of the year be tied to any budget deal, while Republican lawmakers and President Donald Trump refuse those terms.<\/p>\n
Without federal payments, Gov. Josh Shapiro\u2019s administration said more than $366 million in monthly SNAP payments will pause in Pennsylvania for low-income families, seniors and children.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Commonwealth cannot backfill these costs so SNAP benefits are on hold until a federal budget is passed,\u201d a spokesperson from the Department of Human Services said in an email.<\/p>\n
The DHS spokesperson blamed Republicans in Congress for the government shutdown, citing their control of the House and Senate, as well as the White House.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCongress has the ability to prevent the harm this will cause to Pennsylvania families and small businesses, and we urge Republicans in Congress to reopen the government and protect vulnerable Pennsylvanians at risk because of this inaction,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
Counties with the highest percentage of populations benefitting from SNAP are Philadelphia (30.2%), Fayette (24.3%) and Cameron (21.8%), according to data from DHS.\u00a0<\/p>\n
SNAP payments were threatened during the longest government shutdown in history, which lasted 35 days from 2018 into 2019; however, they were never frozen. February 2019 benefits were issued early in January that year, causing a long gap in payments for some recipients.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The pause in SNAP payments this year comes as the USDA fights in court to obtain personal data of recipients from multiple states, including Pennsylvania. The USDA already attempted to freeze payments to any state that refused to voluntarily provide the data.<\/p>\n
Shapiro joined a lawsuit<\/a> challenging that pause. And on Oct. 15, a federal judge ruled the USDA must continue funding SNAP until the lawsuit is resolved.\u00a0<\/p>\n The massive tax cuts and spending bill signed by Trump earlier this year is expected by the Congressional Budget Office<\/a> to slash SNAP funding by up to 20% by 2034.<\/p>\n