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Pennsylvania and New Jersey are among 25 states that filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration Tuesday demanding the release of suspended benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The nation's largest anti-hunger initiative is one of dozens of programs that are days away from losing funding amid the nearly monthlong shutdown of the federal government. States administer federal SNAP benefits to help lower-income residents cover their food expenses using debit cards that are refilled at the beginning of each month. The program, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, helps feed more than 40 million Americans — including about 2 million people in Pennsylvania and more than 800,000 in New Jersey. MORE: Developer plans lawsuit after rejection of project to turn Exton Square Mall into residential community and retail center When the federal government shut down Oct. 1, numerous agencies and programs lost funding beyond the month due to the ongoing congressional stalemate over appropriations spending for the new fiscal year. The USDA said earlier this month it would not have enough funds to pay out full SNAP benefits in November, and then the agency said Friday it will suspend all SNAP funding on Nov. 1. The lawsuit filed by the coalition of state attorneys general claims the USDA has access to billions of dollars in contingency funding for SNAP that was approved by Congress in past appropriations bills. The suit also contends that the federal government has provided emergency funding to other agencies during the shutdown. This will be the first time in SNAP's 60-year history that the federal government refuses to issue monthly food assistance payments due to a lapse in appropriations. Federal SNAP spending totaled $99.8 billion in the last fiscal year for a monthly average of $187.20 per enrollee. The lawsuit against the USDA says the agency's own emergency plan — removed from the USDA website after the start of the shutdown — stated there was at least $6 billion in SNAP contingency funds already appropriated by Congress. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit allege the USDA is violating the Food and Nutrition Act, which protects access to SNAP, and the Administrative Procedure Act. The suit seeks a temporary restraining order that would require the USDA to maintain SNAP benefits through November. The USDA's website includes a statement about the suspended SNAP benefits blaming Senate Democrats for the impasse on an appropriations bill. The shutdown hit the 28-day mark on Tuesday and is the second longest in U.S. history, only trailing the 35-day funding lapse from December 2018 into January 2019 during President Donald Trump's first term. The coalition of plaintiffs in the lawsuit is composed of mostly of states with Democratic governors or attorneys general. “New Jersey families are being used as political pawns by the Trump Administration, which is illegally suspending SNAP and the critical assistance it provides to residents who are struggling with food insecurity,” New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a statement. “This is especially devastating in the month of November, when families are gathering and demands on food banks and pantries are heaviest." Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who joined the governors of Kansas and Kentucky in filing the lawsuit, called it "unacceptable" for the Trump administration to use SNAP benefits as a "bargaining chip" in Washington. Philadelphia, one of the nation's poorest big cities, has about 475,000 people who receive SNAP benefits and most belong to families with children, seniors and people with disabilities. In Pennsylvania, about 714,000 children and 697,000 seniors relied on SNAP last year. A handful of states, not including Pennsylvania and New Jersey, have confirmed they will attempt to pay for some of November's SNAP benefits. Pennsylvania's state budget is several months overdue and officials said last week that the state will not be able to make up for the lack of federal SNAP funding. Leaders from Philadelphia-based food banks said last week the sudden cutoff will put a severe strain on local organizations that support people living with food insecurity. Julie Bancroft, the CEO of hunger relief nonprofit Feeding Pennsylvania, said Tuesday that resources were already insufficient to address the state's needs. “Now, food banks are scrambling to do everything possible to meet the rising demand in their communities when SNAP payments are halted, and 2 million Pennsylvanians will turn to food banks for support — they simply cannot fill the gap," Bancroft said.
