2 million Pa. residents poised to lose SNAP benefits in November if shutdown drags on

Roughly 2 million Pennsylvanians will not get their food benefits in November if the federal shutdown continues and government support for the program falters, state officials have announced.

Gov. Josh Shapiro is urging Congress to pass a spending bill that reopens the government and gets money pumping back into the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which nourishes one in six commonwealth residents.

“Republicans’ failure to pass a federal budget in Washington, D.C., is having a direct impact on our commonwealth,” the Democratic governor said Oct. 20 in a statement. “And now, this federal shutdown is threatening critical food assistance for two million Pennsylvanians who rely on SNAP to feed themselves and their families.”

The lapse in grocery assistance will likely unleash a wave of need at a time when food charities are already feeling the pain of government cuts, funding delays and overall increases in hunger, said Lauren Duff, spokeswoman for the nonprofit Feeding Pennsylvania.

“It’s really creating an urgent crisis for millions of Pennsylvanians that are already struggling to put food on the table and a charitable food network that’s doing its best to serve them right now,” she said.

The federal government has canceled $6 million in emergency food shipments to anti-hunger groups in the commonwealth and withheld $13 million in grants for buying fresh, local produce to stock Pennsylvania banks and pantries, she noted.

Because of the state legislature’s ongoing budget impasse, many of these organizations are also going without aid from Pennsylvania programs, Duff explained. In recent months, her group estimated the delay has paused nearly $5 million of spending through a state food purchasing program and more than $1 million to reimburse farmers who donate produce.

The lapse in SNAP will create an “unprecedented” gap that these charities, even doing their utmost, will not be able to fill, she said. For every meal provided by Pennsylvania food banks, the federal program furnishes nine.

“We could see a surge in need for food assistance like we’ve never really seen before,” Duff said.

The federal government shut down Oct. 1 after Congress failed to pass a spending bill by the deadline, locked in disagreement over health care funding.

Democrats insist the budget needs to extend enhanced tax breaks that make Obamacare coverage affordable to millions of recipients. Republicans say they don’t want to renew the tax credits — which are due to expire at year’s end — as part of the funding bill.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Oct. 10 warned states it did not have enough money to fully fund SNAP in November if the shutdown kept going. Shapiro’s administration says the state “cannot backfill” the missing federal payments, which total about $366 million each month.

Congressional action on a budget bill in the next few days could enable the November payments to go out, although they would likely be delayed, according to officials with the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services.

People can stretch their current benefit to get them through next month, since unspent funds on SNAP cards won’t expire until the end of the year and can be used in the weeks ahead, officials said.

State human services officials will keep reviewing applications for nutrition assistance and other benefits regardless of the shutdown. So they’re telling program participants to continue submitting renewals, semi-annual reviews, case changes and updates to comply with the new federal work requirements.

They also encouraged Pennsylvanians to seek help at pa-navigate.org if they need food or other resources during the shutdown. People in need can also call 211 or go to pa211.org or visit feedingpa.org to locate a local food bank.