"The U.S. Department of Agriculture had planned to freeze payments to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program starting Nov. 1 because it said it could no longer keep funding it due to the shutdown. The program serves about 1 in 8 Americans and is a major piece of the nation's social safety net. It costs about $8 billion per month nationally."
"The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the nation's largest food program, said last month that benefits for November wouldn't be paid out due to the federal government shutdown. That set off a scramble by food banks, state governments and the nearly 42 million Americans who receive the aid to find ways to ensure access to groceries. Most states have boosted aid to food banks, and some are setting up systems to reload benefit cards with state taxpayer dollars. It also spurred lawsuits."
The USDA planned to freeze SNAP payments starting Nov. 1 because the shutdown prevented continued funding. SNAP serves about one in eight Americans and costs roughly $8 billion per month; average benefits are near $190 per person. The planned cutoff prompted a scramble by food banks, state governments and nearly 42 million beneficiaries; most states boosted food-bank support and some used state funds to reload benefit cards. Federal judges in Massachusetts and Rhode Island ordered the government to use a roughly $5 billion fund to continue payments and gave the administration a Monday deadline to decide. Loading benefits onto debit cards can take up to two weeks.
Read at ABC7 Los Angeles
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