(Oct. 24) State officials painted a grim picture of the impact of the federal government shutdown’s imminent threat to the food stamp program, which helps about 440,000 Minnesotans put food on the table.
“We are here with very heavy, heavy hearts,” said Irene Fernando, chair of the Hennepin County Board at a Friday press conference. She called the likely cutoff of aid “a devastating disruption.”
Commissioner Tikki Brown of the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families, which is responsible for the food stamp program in the state, said household costs have increased 25% from pre-pandemic levels.
“So the shutdown significantly increases risks to Minnesotans who are already facing incredibly tight budgets,” Brown said.
She said food stamp recipients receive an average of $6 a day and the state does not have the resources to “backfill” the nearly $73 million the state receives each month to fund the food stamp program.
Brown called on “Congress to take action so these vital benefits could go out to Minnesotans, allowing them to eat in November.”
Benefits for those enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will end on Nov. 1 unless Congress acts to reopen the government.
But there’s little likelihood of that as both Republicans and Democrats in Congress dug in even further this week.
Republicans have been hampered by a lack of clear guidance from President Trump. Once again, House Speaker Mike Johnson has continued to keep the U.S. House out of session through next week. Johnson also continues to insist that it has done its job by passing a Republican stopgap spending bill that would fund the government until Nov. 21.
Meanwhile, Democrats have little incentive to support that GOP stopgap bill without receiving concessions because polls consistently show that voters blame the GOP slightly more than Democrats for the shutdown.
In addition, Americans who purchase insurance through the Affordable Care Act’s marketplaces will receive notices beginning Nov. 1 of a sharp increase in premiums.
An uproar over the cost of health insurance could help Democrats. They have demanded that the extension of enhanced ACA premium credits that lower the cost of health insurance plans be part of any deal to reopen the government.
The Department of Children, Youth, and Families began this week to warn food stamp recipients that they won’t receive their benefits for November. Those notices are going just as food banks across the nation are already facing increased demand.
Sarah Mobers, the CEO of Second Harvest Heartland, said the situation in the state “is moving us from a hunger crisis to a hunger catastrophe.”
Meanwhile, Brown advised that “checking in with neighbors and friends is especially important at this moment.”
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