{"id":28195,"date":"2025-10-30T19:21:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T19:21:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/28195\/"},"modified":"2025-10-30T19:21:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T19:21:10","slug":"texas-dems-urge-abbott-to-use-emergency-funds-for-snap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/28195\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Dems urge Abbott to use emergency funds for SNAP"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\tAudio recording is automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story. See our AI policy<\/a>, and give us feedback<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Texas Democratic lawmakers have urged Gov. Greg Abbott<\/a> to use his executive authority to provide emergency state funding \u2014 a move he has done before \u2014 to offset the looming federal suspension of SNAP benefits this weekend<\/a> for 3.5 million low-income Texans.<\/p>\n

More than 50 Texas House Democrats signed a letter sent<\/a> to Abbott on Thursday urging the governor to tap the same authority he used during COVID-19, the Uvalde shooting, and border operations \u201cto save millions of Texas families from going hungry until federal funding to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is restored.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Saturday, the federal government will halt all SNAP assistance, also known as food stamps, to more than 42 million Americans who depend on it monthly because of the federal shutdown prompted by a partisan divide over whether the Affordable Care Act health insurance tax credits<\/a> should be extended.<\/p>\n

The halt means more than 3.4 million low-income Texans, including 1.7 million children, who depend on a monthly average of $400 in federal food aid, will go without it unless it\u2019s replaced. <\/p>\n

Of the estimated $8 billion in federal food assistance funding scheduled for distribution in November, $614 million would go to Texas SNAP recipients. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe therefore respectfully request that you declare a state of emergency and authorize the temporary use of state funds to maintain SNAP benefits for Texas households until the federal government resumes normal operations,\u201d the Texas Democrats\u2019 letter stated. <\/p>\n

State Rep. Armando Walle<\/a>, D-Houston, said he and other lawmakers first reached out last week to Abbott\u2019s office following news that the SNAP funds for November would be halted, asking whether the governor would declare an emergency and move funding from other agencies. \u201cI haven\u2019t gotten a response other than they\u2019re going to look into it,\u201d Walle said. \u201cThis is a human capital natural disaster.\u201d<\/p>\n

Walle, who recalled how, as a child, his own family received SNAP assistance, said it was critical to keep SNAP dollars moving uninterrupted. \u201cSome folks need to have an appreciation for hungry children, the elderly, and disabled people.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Texas Tribune asked Abbott\u2019s office if he will intervene with emergency funding or join in a lawsuit to request <\/a>the federal government to restore SNAP funding in November. Abbott\u2019s office declined to comment on those routes, but said Democrats in Congress should do their part to lift the shutdown so that SNAP funding can be restored. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a simple and immediate solution to this problem that could be achieved tomorrow. Senate Democrats should immediately end their government shutdown by approving legislation that already passed the U.S. House that will fully fund the government and ensure Texans don\u2019t go hungry,\u201d Abbott\u2019s statement said.<\/p>\n

Texas Health and Human Services Commission, which administers SNAP benefits, referred questions on agency contingency funds that can be used on SNAP to Abbott\u2019s office. <\/p>\n

Ways Texas could pay for SNAP in November<\/p>\n

Abbott has previously used emergency funds<\/a> to address food insecurity, mostly during natural disasters. <\/p>\n

In 2017, Abbott expanded food benefits<\/a> for Hurricane Harvey victims through the Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, providing two months of benefits to all eligible Texans in affected regions. <\/p>\n

The Texas governor has also used emergency funds to mitigate the costs<\/a> of the COVID-19 pandemic, provide mental health counseling<\/a> following the shooting at Robb Elementary School<\/a> and to reinforce the border <\/a>in 2021. <\/p>\n

In 2022, Abbott redirected hundreds of millions of dollars<\/a> from state agencies to fund the border, including $210 million over a two-year period<\/a> from the state\u2019s Health and Human Services Commission, which administers SNAP.<\/p>\n

Texas has over $20 billion in surplus to lean on if necessary, but lawmakers have been particular<\/a> about how they use these funds. Tapping this rainy day fund \u2014 officially called the Economic Stabilization Fund \u2014 would require state lawmakers to come back to Austin to convene in a legislative session, according to Walle\u2019s office. <\/p>\n

Other states across the country that might not have such a surplus have chosen the legal route. <\/p>\n

A coalition of officials in more than 25 states is suing<\/a> the USDA over the looming suspension of the federal funding for food aid. However, Texas hasn\u2019t joined the lawsuit, meaning that no matter the outcome in court, it won\u2019t solve the problem here. <\/p>\n

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in a Massachusetts district court, was brought by various states, including Kentucky, Kansas, California, North Carolina, and Oregon. They are asking a federal judge to order the USDA to provide benefits for November for the nearly 25 million people within their borders by tapping into over $4 billion in contingency funds.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur TRO seeks relief on behalf of the 26 plaintiff jurisdictions. But it is entirely up to the federal government whether they wish to unlock funds for all states whose residents rely on SNAP,\u201d Matt Platkin, the attorney general of New Jersey, told the Texas Tribune. <\/p>\n

The plaintiffs argue that cutting off these payments in their states would threaten widespread hunger and food insecurity. <\/p>\n

Congress could address the issue \u2014 without ending the shutdown \u2014 by passing a standalone bill to fund SNAP. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, has introduced<\/a> a bill to do so, though Senate Republican leadership has not scheduled a vote on it. <\/p>\n

Federal versus state intervention<\/p>\n

SNAP funding comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which has put states on notice this month that any state funds used to cover SNAP will not be reimbursed. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe President, who found $40 billion for Argentina, who is reopening USDA offices to get billions to farmers suffering from his tariff taxes, and who boasts that he can do almost anything, is refusing to tap a rainy-day fund to help seniors, veterans, and families with children. It\u2019s not the well that\u2019s run out, as Republicans claim; it\u2019s their empathy for others that has run dry,\u201d said U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, in a statement sent out Wednesday. <\/p>\n

But as the lawmakers\u2019 letter to Abbott points out: \u201cStates do have the power to take temporary emergency measures, using state funds to prevent hunger and stabilize families while Congress resolves the federal impasse.\u201d <\/p>\n

Some states have sent emergency funding to local food banks. But others, most notably the Republican governors of Louisiana<\/a> and Virginia<\/a>, have declared the looming SNAP suspension an emergency and are tapping their state funds to continue to fund their food assistance programs. \u201cTexas should do the same,\u201d the letter Texas Democrats states.<\/p>\n

When asked by The Texas Tribune about any emergency action he would be willing to take to restore SNAP or fund local food banks, Abbott in a statement said the solution is that Democrats in Congress should reopen the federal government. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhile Democrats use low-income Texans as bargaining chips, Texas agencies are coordinating with community partners to connect families to existing assistance until the federal government gets back to work,\u201d Abbott said in a statement.<\/p>\n

His statement pointed to existing resources Texans can seek to pay for food. <\/p>\n

He suggested that Texans who need assistance in the coming weeks visit 211Texas.org<\/a> or dial 2-1-1 to connect with information on a range of services, including food, housing, utilities, and health and medical services.<\/p>\n

He also pointed to the Texas WIC program, which also provides nutritious foods, education, and other services, but it\u2019s primarily for low-income women, infants, and children up to age 5. WIC has been criticized<\/a> for its restrictions on what food can actually be purchased, forcing many families to abandon it by a child\u2019s first birthday. <\/p>\n

He also references Thriving Texas Families<\/a>. This state program provides supplies to pregnant women and families as a measure to support adoption over abortion, but other than infant formula, the program is not known as a food assistance program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Audio recording is automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story. See our AI policy, and give…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28196,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[8095,19340,8096,27,29,28],"class_list":["post-28195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-food-stamps","tag-rainy-day-fund","tag-supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28195\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}