As some lawmakers look for ways to reduce federal spending, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients may see more payment reductions. The reduction could result in a worse situation as many people find it difficult to pay for food after SNAP allotments nationwide stop on March 1, 2023.
As the SNAP allotment period concluded, Jerry Brown of St. Mary’s Food Bank reported that the demand for food banks is higher now than during the pandemic. That causes what some hunger-reduction campaigners call a “hunger cliff” for the millions of SNAP participants who cannot pay the exorbitant cost of food.
If money is curtailed by Congress in the fall, the situation could get worse. This year, some Republican lawmakers want to limit SNAP assistance by imposing comparable work requirements.
Since then, prominent Republicans have stated that the GOP will not accept changes to Social Security and Medicaid, and SNAP is seen as a natural target for budget reduction.
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Four States Boost Monthly Allotments
Without the additional supplement, benefits for all SNAP households were restored to their prior levels. To increase these monthly allotments, New Jersey, California, West Virginia, and Massachusetts are taking action.
Governor Phil Murphy approved a law in February to guarantee that every SNAP household in New Jersey will start receiving at least $95 in benefits each month on March 1.
In West Virginia, state lawmakers have sponsored a series of SNAP-related proposals to enhance monthly SNAP payments to equal the federal emergency allocations for pregnant women and families with children, according to the Yahoo Finance post.
The state’s Supplemental Budget, which Governor Maura Healey unveiled in January, provides $130 million to establish an “offramp” from the federal extra benefits and to prevent this program’s abrupt termination for more than 630,000 Massachusetts families.
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