SNAP halt increasing anxiety in Pennsylvania food system

Audio By Carbonatix

(The Center Square) – As October turns to November, neither the federal nor state government has been able to come to a budget agreement with vital operations and human services hanging in the balance.

Perhaps the most impactful and widespread consequence of the shutdown is set to go into effect Saturday, at which point the federal government will stop providing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.

The state, which oversees administration of the program through the Department of Human Services, says it does not have the funds to stand in for the federal government. About 2 million Pennsylvania residents rely on SNAP to afford food. Among them, 760,000 are children.

Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro has responded to the issue by joining a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture demanding it use its contingency funds to maintain the benefit. 

“For the first time since the program began in 1964, SNAP payments have been halted across the country because the Trump administration has decided to use critical food assistance as a political bargaining chip,” said Shapiro. “That is unacceptable, especially when the USDA has billions of dollars in congressionally-appropriated contingency funding on hand to fund SNAP and ensure millions of people don’t go hungry.”

Both the administration and the state’s charitable food network have warned that there is not enough available in food banks to sustain the commonwealth when SNAP runs out. Because benefits continued to be covered in previous government shutdowns, the situation is unprecedented.

“To say that we are in a crisis is an understatement, and while there are still many unknowns surrounding the government shutdown, one thing is for certain – more of our neighbors are going to be turning to us for help,” said Shila Ulrich, CEO of the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank.

Ulrich pointed out that in addition to strain created by the loss of SNAP, the state’s thousands of federal workers going without pay are in need of resources. Her organization has already experienced increases in demand for the more than 268,000 served each month.

"This is one of the most disgusting things I've ever seen as a public servant – the Trump administration is deliberately causing pain to people in need, people who rely on food assistance to feed their families," said Lt. Gov. Austin Davis.

The federal government shut down on Oct. 1 for the first time since a 35-day stoppage bridging 2018 and 2019. At 30 days on Thursday, this shutdown has already surpassed the 1995-96 stoppage of 21 days for No. 2 in terms of length.

The Republican majority U.S. House of Representatives passed a continuing resolution in September. The Republican majority Senate is stalled in filibuster led by Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., unable to get seven votes to reach the threshold of 60 needed to pass the legislation and unwilling to compromise on the House legislation.

Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., the deputy whip in the chamber, in a network interview said, “Shutdowns are terrible, and, of course, there will be families who will suffer. We take that responsibility very seriously. But it is one of the few leverage points we have.”

Schumer has asked for closed-door meetings with second-term Republican President Donald Trump, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota. Transparency has been Johnson’s repeated response.

In addition to Democrats in the House rejecting the continuing resolution in September, Democrats in the Senate have rejected it 13 times following Tuesday morning's vote.

Americans across the political spectrum have expressed mounting frustration with the government shutdown. Humanitarian groups have expressed grave concern over the negotiations which bring food insecurity and health care into the heart of the nation’s political tug of war.

“Not only are the needs of everyday working people being ignored, but the programs meant to protect them are being weaponized,” said Heather Seiders, interim executive director of Just Harvest, a hunger nonprofit in Pittsburgh. “When our leaders turn food and health care into bargaining chips, families suffer, small businesses lose, and trust in government erodes. This is not governance, it’s cruelty disguised as politics.”

Just Harvest says it will also serve a blow to the state's food sellers. They note that 100,000 businesses sell $350 million in groceries to families with SNAP benefits every month.