Due to the recent government shutdown, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has had some delays in providing benefits to the 42 million Americans in need. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is a federal initiative that helps provide monthly food benefits to low-income families to help them afford their groceries. Back on Oct. 10, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released a letter saying that they had insufficient funds to pay the full November SNAP benefits to millions of Americans.
This delay in benefits can be disastrous as some families do not have enough funds to provide food on the table. Many court rulings have been made in an effort to provide Americans with their SNAP benefits. At least 19 states have released full benefits in the week before the Supreme Court blocked a ruling requiring the federal government to make full SNAP payments. The USDA has said that SNAP recipients in most states would receive their benefits within 24 hours of after the government shutdown ends. Several states have also begun issuing partial payments. Now that the government shutdown has ended on Nov. 12, benefits should be rolling in.
The delay in SNAP payments have been a cause of concern for many. The president of the Food Research & Action Center, Crystal FitzSimons said, “SNAP is our most effective and largest anti-hunger program. The delay in families receiving SNAP, even for just 12 days, was catastrophic to families.” David Super, a professor of economics and law at Georgetown University said, “Lots of people have had to eat without SNAP, so they’ve used their rent money and their utility money, [so] we’re likely to see a wave of evictions and utility shutoffs. I think we’re going to see a lot of disruptions in people’s lives for months to come.”
This incident has incited concern about the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The government shutdown caused confusion as states issued full benefits, partial benefits and even none at all. As benefits start to be distributed, there is one thing that remains true: something has to change.
