Copyright The Boston Globe
Governor Maura Healey on Friday said she ordered that full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits should be paid in full, one week after SNAP funding had lapsed amid a federal government shutdown Healey’s announcement follows a federal judge in Rhode Island ordering that the Trump administration find the money to fully fund SNAP benefits for November. The Trump administration has appealed the judge’s order. The SNAP program provides more than 1 million people in Massachusetts with food assistance. A number of states, including California, Michigan, Oregon, and Wisconsin, have said they are distributing full benefits for recipients in their states. “President Trump should never have put the American people in this position,” Healey said in a statement Friday. “Families shouldn’t have had to go hungry because their President chose to put politics over their lives.” Advertisement SNAP recipients who have missed a payment should see benefits on their cards as early as Saturday, according to Healey’s office. The Rhode Island judge’s ruling came in response to a challenge from cities and nonprofits complaining that the administration was offering to cover only 65 percent of the maximum benefit. As of Thursday morning, the Trump administration had not released any of the funds, despite a federal judge ordering them to last week. Globe correspondents Katarina Schmeiszer and Truman Dickerson contributed to this report. Samantha J. Gross can be reached at samantha.gross@globe.com. Follow her @samanthajgross.
