New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Oct. 30 declared a state of emergency regarding the suspension of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) on Nov. 1 caused by the government shutdown and a lack of funding.
In a statement, the Democratic governor said that the loss of SNAP funds is “an unprecedented public health crisis” and will harm farmers, grocers, and other stores across the state.
“Today, I’m declaring a state of emergency and am committing additional state funds for emergency food assistance to ensure New Yorkers don’t go hungry,” Hochul said in her statement.
The $65 million in state funding will include $40 million “in new funding for the Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program, which provides emergency food relief and nutrition services to food-insecure populations,” her office stated.
The emergency order also directs the Empire State Service Corps and the State University of New York Corps, which are both state-funded public service work programs for college students, to assist in SNAP registrations and other efforts.
“The Empire State Service Corps will allow current members to expand their paid hours, enabling them to provide greater support at food pantries statewide,” Hochul’s office stated. “In addition, new short-term crisis response positions will be created to assist food pantries and food banks facing staffing shortages.
SNAP’s looming lapse in funding comes as the shutdown has lasted nearly a month, after members of Congress did not come to an agreement on how to fund the government.
Democrats have said that any measure to reopen the government should include what they say are protections for health care, including an extension of health care subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year. Republicans say that talks about health care should come after the government is reopened.
Meanwhile, Democrats and Republicans, as well as the Trump administration, have traded blame over the lapse in SNAP funding.
Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) warned that the food stamp program is set to run dry and accused Democrats of obstructing the reopening of the government. Hochul and other Democrats have blamed the Trump administration and Republicans for the shutdown and SNAP funding lapse.
Twenty-five states have filed a lawsuit against the federal government to keep SNAP’s funding going past the Nov. 1 deadline. Judge Indira Talwani of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts told lawyers on Oct. 30 in a hearing that the government can’t afford to cover the program and that there’s a process to follow rather than simply suspending all benefits.
“The steps involve finding an equitable way of reducing benefits,” Talwani said in the hearing.
The Trump administration has argued that it wasn’t allowed to use a contingency fund with about $5 billion in it for the program, while a USDA plan from before the shutdown said that money would be tapped to keep SNAP running. Democratic states have argued that the contingency money not only could be used; it must be. They also said a separate fund with about $23 billion could be tapped.
