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Delayed and lowered Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits are due for payment to 42 million Americans who rely on food assistance. Why SNAP Benefits Are Delayed The federal government has now been shutdown for 36 days, making it the longest in U.S. history and surpassing the previous 35-day record set during the Trump administration. The shutdown began after Democrats and Republicans failed to reach an agreement on a government funding bill. Democrats are seeking to extend soon-to-expire health care tax credits and restore previous Medicaid cuts, but Republicans have rejected these proposals. SNAP benefits have been heavily affected, as regular appropriations to fund the program ran out in October. Initially, the Trump administration said benefits would be frozen during the shutdown because contingency funds could not legally cover regular payments. However, on Friday, federal judges in Rhode Island and Massachusetts ruled that the government must continue partially funding SNAP using emergency funds. How SNAP Benefits Are Issued SNAP payments are issued to electronic benefit transfer cards, which work like regular debit cards, to be spent in participating retailers. While the USDA funds the program, payments are issued at the state and local level. Each month, the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) sends SNAP funds to states through an electronic transfer into the state’s EBT system. States can’t access the money until Congress has approved funding for that period. Once the funding is in place, states request the amount they need to cover benefits for that month. SNAP benefits are usually issued on a monthly basis by state administrators. Each state has its own rules for when benefits go out. States with smaller populations, like Alaska, issue all their payments on a single day each month. In larger states like California, benefits are issued throughout the month according to each recipient's case number. When Will SNAP Benefits Be Released? The government shutdown has complicated the usual SNAP funding process. Typically, funds are appropriated in the month before benefits are issued, which is why October’s payments went out as scheduled despite the shutdown. However, for November, the lack of regular appropriations, the current court order requiring the Trump administration to use contingency funds, and the need for states to adjust their systems to account for reduced payments are all causing delays, making the entire process take longer than usual. As White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said this week: "The recipients of the SNAP benefits need to understand it's going to take some time to receive this money." Some states are slightly ahead of the curve. Nevada has already issued payments to its 500,000 SNAP recipients, its Department of Health and Human Services has confirmed. Louisiana's SNAP recipients will get their partial payments starting today, November 6. In Vermont, payments will be delivered on Friday.
