Copyright postandcourier
COLUMBIA — Days before tens of thousands of Richland County residents may lose federal grocery benefits amid the second-longest federal government shutdown in history, state and local elected officials representing the county plan to urge utility providers such as Dominion Energy and the city of Columbia to pause bills, among other actions. The group of South Carolina lawmakers, local school board members and a county council member met Oct. 29 at Trinity Baptist Church in north Columbia to address the risk of the shutdown cutting off federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, known as food stamps, beginning November 1. Other plans include working with community partners, such as churches, nonprofits and civic organizations, to coordinate local support. They also plan to ask the state ethics commission whether they can raise money as a delegation or use campaign funds to help residents affected by the shutdown. Additionally, they plan to urge Republican Attorney General Alan Wilson in a letter to join officials in 25 states, most led by Democratic attorneys general, suing the U.S. Department of Agriculture to keep funding SNAP. Wilson, who is running for governor in 2026, is unlikely to do so. “Listen, we all understand about the government shutdown. We cried about it, we whined about it,” state Rep. Leon Howard, D-Columbia, told reporters. “Now it’s time that we have to get up and do something for ourselves and do something for our people.” Richland County has the largest number of SNAP recipients in the state. The program, funded entirely by the federal government, is a lifeline to buy groceries for residents living at or below the poverty line. The federal agency that distributes the funds, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, says it can’t fund the program in November, arguing that contingency funds for emergencies are reserved for natural disasters, not benefit payments. Meanwhile, Democrats say the agency is ignoring its own pre-shutdown guidance.
