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By Courtney Bell, Avery White and Sheridan White | LSU Manship News Service As the state Legislature finished its special session Wednesday, it requested $150 million to temporarily fund SNAP food benefits in November because the federal government shutdown could cut off benefits beginning Saturday. The Senate passed a resolution also urging the federal government to refund the state the $150 million it will pay to continue SNAP benefits starting Saturday. Otherwise, there will be no funding for the program, leaving almost 800,000 Louisiana residents without benefits. The Legislature moved to transfer the money from its health department’s budget Wednesday to continue the benefits. After the Legislature adjourned, Gov. Jeff Landry complimented the House and the Senate and said that a surplus in the state government “gives us the opportunity to act with compassion and reason.” The Republican governor sharply criticized Democratic leadership in Washington for breaking down the social safety net some people need. “We have to take care of our most vulnerable people,” Landry said. More than two dozen Democrat attorneys general and governors have sued the federal government in Massachusetts federal court over Washington’s withholding of SNAP benefit funding. The case is based on previous government shutdowns, in which SNAP funding was continued with money from an emergency contingency fund in Washington. “I think that it is outrageous that the federal government is holding food money hostage,” said Sen. Valarie Hodges, R-Livingston. The only objection to the calls for reimbursement across both chambers was from Sen. Jay Morris, R-West Monroe. Morris disapproved of the Senate’s resolution, saying it was not the state’s responsibility to “bail out” the federal government. “It’s really pretty ridiculous that we are in some respects being forced to try to bail out the largest source of wealth in the world and that has ever been in the world,” Morris said. He said the state funding sets a “bad precedent” of the federal government forcing program funding to states. A hearing on the lawsuit is scheduled for Thursday.
