Millions face losing SNAP benefits as shutdown continues with no end in sight

Geoff Bennett:

Let's turn now to the government shutdown that is continuing with no end in sight. Millions of Americans are on the verge of losing access to food assistance known as SNAP, often referred to as food stamps, as early as next week.

SNAP serves 42 million people, and at least half of all states say they won't be able to extend food assistance to make up the gap.

Amna Nawaz:

Many food aid groups feel the government is legally obligated to provide funding to SNAP. But in a notice on its Web site, the U.S. Department of Agriculture blamed Senate Democrats and said — quote — "Bottom line, the well has run dry. At this time, there will be no benefits issued November 1."

Joining me now is Sharon Parrott. She's president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. That's a left-leaning think tank that's focused on these issues.

Sharon, thanks for joining us.

So, as Geoff just mentioned, 42 million Americans who rely on these benefits, what do we know about who will be impacted, how they will be impacted, and when, if this runs out November 1?

Sharon Parrott, President, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: Yes, thanks so much.

Forty-two million Americans get help every month to be able to afford groceries at the grocery store. They are families with children. They are seniors. They are people with disabilities. They are veterans. They are workers whose low pay isn't enough to make ends meet. It is a broad swathe of people.

And what they have in common is, they just lack enough income to be able to afford food. The SNAP program provides pretty modest benefits, only about $6.25 per day per person. But it is critical, critical assistance that makes the difference in people being able to put dinner on the table every night.

Amna Nawaz:

And, Sharon, do we know if beneficiaries tend to be concentrated more in certain states, certain regions, red or blue states? Where are they?

Sharon Parrott:

Well, people receive SNAP in every part of the country and in every state. It's a vital support for people in rural communities, as well as urban communities and suburban communities, in red states and in blue states.

And people use SNAP often for temporary periods. Somebody loses a job and they use it to tide them over. And then some people use it for longer because they're older and their fixed income isn't enough to be able to buy food on their own, or people in low-paid jobs who just don't earn enough by themselves to be able to afford food.

And so SNAP supplements their income and allows their families to go to the grocery store and buy the food their families need.

Amna Nawaz:

We do know that the SNAP program has money in contingency reserves that aren't being tapped right now. We have seen attorneys general and governors from 25 Democratic-led states who are now suing, trying to force the federal government to use those funds to fund the SNAP program during the shutdown.

Here is what Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said earlier about the use of those funds. Take a listen.

Brooke Rollins, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture: There's not just pots of $9.2 billion sitting around. And what's particularly rich about New York saying that or California or any of these other blue states that have filed the lawsuit that say, oh, no, we're going to go — you guys, USDA, go find the money, is, it's their very friends, partners, colleagues, Democrat elected officials that continue to vote over and over again to keep the government closed.

Amna Nawaz:

So, Sharon, the Trump administration has argued both that there's not enough contingency funds to fill the gap that would be left, also that they legally can't access those funds to cover regular benefits. What's your response to that? Are they right on both fronts?

Sharon Parrott:

The Trump administration posted on September 30 a shutdown plan in — for USDA, for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, that runs the SNAP program.

In that shutdown plan, they said that they would use contingency reserves if there was a lapse in funding. That is the same interpretation that past administrations have always put forward when a shutdown was possible or when there weren't going to be enough funds in the SNAP program.

These are funds that Congress has already appropriated that are sitting in USDA's accounts for the purposes of SNAP benefits when funding is inadequate. It is already in the SNAP account. And so it is quite something to be sitting on billions of dollars that could be used for food assistance for people who need help and to refuse to release it, when their own shutdown plan, which has now been removed from their Web site, by the way, said that these funds would be available for benefits after October.

October benefits had already been funded and that the contingency funds would be available after that. Now, it is certainly the case that contingency funds are not enough to provide people with full benefits. USDA also has legal transfer authority, which is just a fancy way to say that they have the opportunity, the legal authority, to move funds around.

And there is funding that they could move into the SNAP account that could supplement those contingency reserves and get people either full benefits or close to full benefits. But even if they only use the contingency reserves, they would at least be able to get people benefits of roughly half their regular benefits.

And while that's not nearly enough, it would provide more time to settle out the shutdown and would give people some resources with which to buy food. It is quite shocking, as someone who was a senior official in the Office of Management and Budget, to see that they have funds sitting in the SNAP account that they are not releasing for use for families, so that families could buy food with it.

Amna Nawaz:

Sharon, I have got about a minute or so left, but I have to ask you. As we mentioned in the introduction, some states are acting. They're releasing their own emergency funds where they can to try to fill that gap, Louisiana among them, saying they will continue to pay benefits using state funds only until November 4, New York pledging to release some $30 million in state funds.

Is that an answer here? Can states step in to fill the gap?

Sharon Parrott:

It's very difficult for states to step in and fill the gap, particularly when the administration is saying that, if states provide funding and issue SNAP benefits, that there's no reason to think that those funds would be repaid to the states.

SNAP is a national program. It is in recognition that fighting hunger is a national priority. Benefits right now are fully federally funded, and the goal is to ensure that, no matter where somebody lives, they have access to food assistance if they need it. The administration needs to use the resources they have available to get help to people who need it in this time before the government reopens.

Amna Nawaz:

That is Sharon Parrott from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Sharon, thank you for your time. Appreciate it.

Sharon Parrott:

Thank you.

Amna Nawaz:

And we have extended an invitation to the Trump administration and to the USDA to comment on the shutdown impact on food stamps. We hope to have that conversation in the future.