States are warning struggling Americans who rely on food stamps to pay for groceries that they may miss out on benefits come November.
“Starting October 16, SNAP [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] benefits will not be paid until the federal government shutdown ends and funds are released to PA,” reads a notice from the Pennsylvania state website.
New Jersey, Maryland, New York and Texas are among the other states that have issued similar notices.
The wave of announcements come after the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the federal food stamps program, issued a letter to state agencies on Oct. 10 saying that if the lapse in appropriations continues, there will be “insufficient funds” to pay full November SNAP benefits.
Advocates and SNAP recipients have warned the effects of being cut off from nutrition assistance could be devastating.
Gina Plata-Nino, interim director for SNAP at the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC), a nonprofit focused on ending hunger, said delayed SNAP benefits would mean individuals have to make extreme choices such as whether to pay their rent or feed their kids. Many recipients, she said, are living paycheck to paycheck and that’s the reason they depend on SNAP.
According to the USDA, 73% of SNAP recipients had a gross monthly income at or below 100% of the poverty level in fiscal year 2023.
While the majority of beneficiaries are not expected to work while on SNAP, primarily because they are children, older adults or disabled people, most SNAP participants who can work do so, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan research and policy institute, said in an April report.
How SNAP benefits are normally administered
Over 40 million Americans are enrolled in SNAP. Recipients, on average, receive a payment of $187 (or roughly $6 per day) on prepaid cards that they can use to buy produce, meat, dairy and other household food staples.
While SNAP is a federally funded program run by the USDA, states are responsible for administering benefits and setting their own disbursement dates. As described by The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) on its website, the program is a “delicate partnership of public and private entities.”
To ensure benefits are available at the first of every month, states send electronic case files with information on SNAP recipients on a monthly basis to an electronic benefit transfer (EBT) vendor so they can process the data and load recipients’ cards.
“EBT processors have to get all of this data in time,” Plata-Nino explained. “They need to be able to process the payment so when that person utilizes their card at that EBT retailer, the money will be there for the retailer to be able to swipe.”
The shutdown, however, has thrown a wrench in the process. In its letter to state agencies on Oct. 10, the USDA directed states to hold off on sending electronic files to EBT vendors “until further notice.” The pause opens the door to possible delays and disruptions in November benefits.
That could be an issue for SNAP recipients like Deb Powers, a 66-year-old Massachusetts resident who receives around $260 a month in SNAP benefits. Powers said she’ll be OK if benefits don’t come through in November, but a longer delay would force her to change how she shops. The fresh produce she buys to keep a healthy diet would no longer be in her budget, she said.
Contingency funding
One way for the USDA to cover SNAP costs, explained Plata-Nino, would be for the agency to tap into its contingency funds. According to FRAC, the reserve stood at $6 billion during the Biden administration.
After Democrats and Republicans failed to come to an agreement to extend government funding on Oct. 1, 2025, the USDA said in its Lapse of Funding plan that the SNAP program has been provided for with multiyear contingency funds that could be used to cover state administrative expenses during a federal government shutdown.
“These multiyear contingency funds are also available to fund participant benefits in the event that a lapse occurs in the middle of the fiscal year,” the plan states.
During the government shutdowns in 2018 and 2019, the USDA disbursed SNAP funds early to prevent benefits from running out, Plata-Nino said.
“This administration didn’t do any of that [this time], but they still have the contingency funding …” Plata-Nino said. “They have the money, so it really is a policy choice.”
It’s also possible states could attempt to free up money from their own budgets to bridge the gap, although approval would be an uphill battle given that it costs tens to hundreds of millions of dollars monthly to cover SNAP benefits. Whether states would get that money back is unclear.
Peter Hadler, the deputy commissioner of Connecticut’s Department of Social Services, told lawmakers in his state Thursday that he doesn’t expect the federal government to ever reimburse states.
The fate of WIC funding
Another social safety net program that could be affected by the government shutdown is the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children. Known as WIC, the program provides nutrition assistance, including infant formula, to around 6.7 million people.
The National WIC Association (NWA), the nonprofit education arm for the government program, warned Tuesday that millions of families could lose access to their WIC benefits as early as Nov. 1, when certain state agencies are set to run out of funds.
The group said the White House provided temporary emergency funds that will stabilize the program through Oct. 31, but noted that those funds are rapidly depleting. To keep the programing running for the first two weeks of November, an additional $300 million is needed, according to NWA.
“Without additional funding, State WIC Agencies may be forced to take drastic measures that prevent families from accessing the services they need, such as halting food benefits,” NWA said in a statement.