Additional Coverage:
Food Stamp Recipients to See Slightly Larger November Benefits After USDA Re-evaluation
**Washington D.C. ** – Federal food stamp recipients will receive a slightly larger portion of their usual benefits this November, following revised guidance issued by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Wednesday evening. The update comes as the agency navigates a court order to utilize its contingency fund amid a government shutdown.
Initially, the USDA planned a 50% reduction to the maximum Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefit for the month. However, a new court filing reveals that the agency has performed further analysis and determined that a 35% reduction will be sufficient to deplete the SNAP contingency fund as required.
“USDA performed further analysis and determined that the maximum allotments need only be reduced by 35%, instead of 50%, to deplete the SNAP contingency fund,” stated Patrick Penn, a high-ranking USDA official, in court documents.
This adjustment follows an analysis by a left-leaning think tank, which argued that the USDA’s initial guidance would have cut benefits more deeply than necessary. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities had asserted that only a 43% reduction was needed to align spending with available funds in the contingency account. The USDA had previously committed to using $4.65 billion from the fund for November’s SNAP assistance.
While federal judges had offered the USDA the option to transfer additional funds to fully cover November benefits, the agency declined, citing potential risks to other vital nutrition programs. Full benefits for November would have amounted to approximately $8.2 billion.
It’s important to note that some beneficiaries may still receive less than 65% of their typical benefits. This is due to the SNAP benefit calculation formula, which subtracts 30% of a household’s monthly net income from the maximum benefit for their household size. As most households have some income, they do not receive the maximum allotment.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ earlier analysis, based on the initial 50% cut, projected that nearly 5 million food stamp recipients would receive no benefits in November because their usual allotment was less than the proposed reduction. Many households with some income would also have seen less than half of their normal assistance.
In response to the changed guidance, the Justice Department, representing the USDA in court, stated in Wednesday evening’s filing that the modification was not a direct response to a plaintiff’s filing earlier that day, which included the center’s analysis. The lawsuit, one of two demanding the USDA access the contingency fund, was brought by a coalition of cities, nonprofits, unions, and small businesses.
Delayed Benefits Raise Concerns
The implementation of these partial benefits is proving to be a challenge for states, with the timing of payments varying significantly. States are required to reconfigure their systems to accommodate the reduced payments, a process that could take weeks, or even months, for those utilizing older technology, according to a top USDA official.
North Carolina and Massachusetts have indicated that enrollees in their states should receive benefits next week. However, Pennsylvania’s Department of Human Services Secretary, Valerie Arkoosh, penned a letter to the USDA on Wednesday, criticizing the agency’s chosen approach as “the most complex and labor-intensive approach possible.”
Arkoosh’s letter, reviewed by this publication, estimates that overhauling Pennsylvania’s system will require 10,000 hours of work, taking a minimum of nine to twelve business days, followed by another ten days to issue benefits. She also warned that this plan could increase Pennsylvania’s payment error rate. Arkoosh suggested that the USDA should instead allow states to issue a one-time payment of half their usual benefit for November, a method used during the first Trump administration for Covid-19 pandemic food assistance.
“This will only further delay availability of food assistance for nearly 2 million Pennsylvanians who are currently not receiving benefits to which they are entitled, and result in wasted taxpayer dollars and long-term harm to Pennsylvania’s SNAP program,” Arkoosh wrote regarding the USDA’s guidance.
Continued Legal Scrutiny
The delays in payment have sparked further legal questions in ongoing cases challenging the administration’s initial decision to withhold SNAP benefits for November. U.S. District Judge John McConnell in Rhode Island, who last week ruled that the administration must tap into the contingency fund, had ordered the government to work “expeditiously” to ensure payments.
However, the coalition behind the legal challenge swiftly returned to court this week, arguing that the delayed payments indicate the administration has not complied with McConnell’s directive. They urged the judge to issue a new order demanding full funding of SNAP benefits for November.
The administration vehemently pushed back against these assertions in court papers filed Wednesday afternoon, stating that since it had released money from its contingency fund to states and provided guidance on calculating reduced payments, “there is nothing more USDA could do.”
Government attorneys argued, “The states are nonparties to this suit, and the court has not ordered them to, for example, hire additional technical staff or meet any particular deadlines. And Plaintiffs have not identified any authority for USDA to compel States to do anything other than distribute reduced benefits once the States have been authorized and the funds provided, as USDA has already done.”
Judge McConnell has scheduled a hearing on the issue for Thursday.