Three Jacksonville City Council members are preparing legislation to contribute $2 million to Feeding Northeast Florida to help offset lost funding for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.
Council members Ju’Coby Pittman, Rahman Johnson and Reggie Gaffney Jr. spoke at a Nov. 7 special meeting about their interest in finding money to help Jacksonville residents who have lost SNAP benefits amid the ongoing federal government shutdown.
While the trio didn’t leave the meeting with a complete plan on how to acquire those funds, Johnson said he would finalize details over the weekend. Johnson, who represents a district with an estimated 4,887 households receiving SNAP benefits, plans to introduce legislation before the next Council meeting Nov. 12
“This is a crisis. People are hurting and we’ve got to do something,” Johnson said. “This is the little part we can do, but it’s something that could change families’ lives, at least until we get the country back open and running.”…