Gov. Greg Abbott said on Friday that the Texas Health and Human Services Commission will provide emergency food assistance under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program totaling more than $345.9 million for the whole month of February.
Final Month
The final month that eligible households can get emergency SNAP assistance is February 2023, according to legislation that Congress just approved. About 1.6 million Texas families are anticipated to benefit from the allocations.
According to Abbott’s statement in the press release, “The State of Texas has been able to help millions of families receive the food they need to keep healthy across our wonderful state.” “We’re delighted to have offered billions in supplemental benefits so Texans may have good and nutritious food alternatives to care for their family and loved ones,” the statement said.
Eligibility Services
In a news statement, HHSC Access and Eligibility Services Deputy Executive Commissioner Wayne Salter said, “We’re grateful that we’ve been able to assist millions of Texans by delivering more than $9.7 billion in extra benefits since the Families First Coronavirus Response Act was established.”
The U.S. government gave HHSC official clearance. Depending on the size of the household, the Department of Agriculture will provide participants with the maximum amount of SNAP payments. All SNAP households will get emergency allotments totaling at least $95 each. By February 28, this additional emergency allocation ought to be visible in beneficiaries’ accounts.
Other Reports, SNAP Benefits
A pandemic-era increase in the amount of money low-income people receive for groceries is coming to an end, creating the possibility of a surge in food insecurity.
An emergency allowance has given households enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP, at least $95 more per month to spend on food for over three years.
The extra allotments have already come to an end in 18 states. The remaining 32 states and Washington, D.C. will follow by the end of February, adding financial pressure on those already trying to make ends meet.
Tanisha Ferran, a mother from Wooster, Ohio, who is unable to work due to persistent back difficulties, said: “I’m not scared that I won’t be able to make it, because I will be.” But every month, it will be like, by a hair’s breadth.
Anti-hunger activists claim that there has been a discernible increase in suffering among food-insecure households in the states that have already ended the allotments.
After May, Georgia stopped giving out emergency SNAP benefits. According to Kyle Waide, president and CEO of the Atlanta Community Food Bank, which serves 29 counties, visitation climbed by nearly 34% between July and December compared to the same time last year.
Waide ascribed the rise in demand to the elimination of the allotments as well as other pandemic-era policies like the universal free lunch program and the child tax credit.
