It's still unclear how much or when people enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will get SNAP benefits this month. On Thursday a judge ordered the Trump administration to use emergency funds to fully fund the food stamp benefits. But the administration has already filed an appeal.
Amidst all that uncertainty, local food pantries are stepping up to help people who rely on SNAP. It's the first time the country’s largest anti-poverty initiative has ever been suspended because of a federal government shutdown.
Federal officials informed the state government on Wednesday that people enrolled in SNAP will receive some portion of the benefits they’ve been allotted for November.
But after the latest ruling, Michigan's health department said it'll quickly restore full funding for food benefits unless the Trump administration's appeal of the new restraining order is successful.
"Michiganders can expect to being [sic] receiving their benefits in the coming days" a statement from Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel's office said "absent an immediate stay" from an appeals court.
“These benefits are a vital lifeline for many Michigan families, especially with the rising cost of food,” said Elizabeth Hertel, director of Michigan’s Department of Health and Human Services.
In a statement Thursday, Hertel applauded the new temporary restraining order. Earlier in the week, she encouraged SNAP recipients to supplement the reduced benefits with visits to local food banks.
Local food banks ramp up
“We're seeing an increased number of demand [so] it's harder to actually get the product to the shelves,” said Brother Fred Cabras, who oversees the food pantry at Detroit’s Capuchin Soup Kitchen.
There used to be about 175 families who signed up for appointments, he said. But since an impasse in Congress shut down the government on Oct. 1, as many as 210 people a day have stopped by the Capuchin-run food pantry, where appointments are offered once every month or two to any given family.
The space resembles a corner grocery, except the aisles aren’t packed full of various brands and flavors. The shelves are rather bare in comparison, with only one type of any given item – from grits to soy milk. Instead of paying for their selections, patrons wheel their carts over a scale to ensure they haven’t taken more than the weight limit of food allotted for their families.
A day before she was due to receive the SNAP disbursement on Nov. 1, Ann was selecting a watermelon from a large cardboard box at the pantry. Michigan Public is not sharing her last name to protect her family’s privacy. She has guardianship over two of her relatives’ children, she said.
“My kids are grown but I have kids that I take care of, so [SNAP] helps me with the food,” she said.
Ann only receives $238 a month through SNAP, but without it, she said she would be in a difficult position. “I'll be making hard decisions on paying bills and what not to do, you know, which bills to pay and cut and trying to make ends meet for food,” she said.
“You shouldn't have to be going through that just because [Congress] can't get together on what they want to do,” Ann said as she wheeled her cart of groceries out into the parking lot.
I'll be making hard decisions on paying bills and what not to do, you know, which bills to pay and cut and trying to make ends meet for food.
Federal government ordered to resume SNAP
On Oct. 31, two federal judges ordered the federal government to make partial disbursements to SNAP recipients out of contingency funds, or make full payments by tapping into other funding sources.
“Right now, Congress has put money in an emergency fund for an emergency,” U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani of Massachusetts told Trump administration officials at a hearing last week. “[I]t’s hard for me to understand how this isn’t an emergency when there’s no money and a lot of people are needing their SNAP benefits.”
Rhode Island U.S. District Judge John McConnell came to a similar conclusion. He ruled that the federal government couldn’t withhold SNAP benefits because of the government shutdown. On Nov. 1, he ordered the Trump administration to disperse funds to the nearly 42 million people enrolled in the program no later than Nov. 3, or partial payments by Nov. 6.
“There is no question that the congressionally approved contingency funds must be used now because of the shutdown,” he wrote. “[I]n fact, the President during his first term issued guidance indicating that these contingency funds are available if SNAP funds lapse due to a government shutdown.”
But on Thursday Judge McConnell took a much stronger position — ordering the governments to make full SNAP payments.
“This Court is not naïve to the administration’s true motivations,” McConnell wrote, citing President Trump’s recent posts on social media. “Far from being concerned with Child Nutrition funding, these statements make clear that the administration is withholding full SNAP benefits for political purposes. Such ‘unjustifiable partisanship’ has infected the USDA’s decision-making, rendering it arbitrary and capricious.”
Michigan offers some financial support
Amidst the uncertainty around SNAP, several states have stepped in to provide financial assistance to SNAP recipients or provide funding to food banks.
Michigan released $4.5 million to the Food Bank Council of Michigan this week, to distribute to local food banks based on need. Executive director Phil Knight said the allocation is meant to meet unmet food needs over the next two weeks – though it hardly compares to the dollar amount that SNAP benefits would afford Michiganders over that same period of time.
“[We’ve had] $258 million worth of SNAP benefits pulled away, away from families, away from their homes, but also out of the Michigan economy. So I think there's a lot of uncertainty,” Knight said.
“Is it enough? Is it equal to? And the answer to those questions is no,” he said,
though one thing was for sure: “We're not going to stop doing what we can do to help people, because that's our mission.”
Lindsey Smith contributed to this story.
