The government shutdown has placed a ticking clock on the programs that help poor Americans eat. Congress and the president have until the end of February to break their current impasse over government funding before nearly 40 million people risk going hungrier.
The USDA held a short-notice media conference call on the afternoon of Jan. 8 regarding the agency’s efforts to keep the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits—often called “food stamps”—funded. According to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and Acting USDA Deputy Undersecretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services Brandon Lipps, there are funds available through the end of February.
“We are relying on a provision of the Continuing Resolution, which expired, that allows for the obligation of payments within 30 days of the expiration of the continuing resolution, or more specifically Dec. 21, 2018,” explained Lipps.
He additionally explained that the USDA is working with states to put in requests for early issuance of SNAP benefits for February. If states make this request before Jan. 20 (30 days after the Continuing Resolution expired) SNAP benefits for February can be made available to recipients before or by Jan. 20.
“Our child nutrition programs have sufficient funding to continue operations through March,” Lipps continued. “For the [Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)] program, USDA has identified prior year funds that will be provided to WIC state agencies to operate for the month of February, and USDA can continue to make food deliveries in our food distribution programs to provide critical assistance to our nation’s food banks, the elderly, and to Indian tribal organizations.”
SNAP stats
According to USDA’s own data, there were 38.6 million individuals receiving SNAP benefits in September 2018 (most recent complete data). This is down almost 10 percent from September 2017. Almost 45 percent of SNAP recipients are children under the age of 17. Adults aged 18-59 make up roughly the same percentage of SNAP recipients, and the rest is made up of seniors over age 60.
SNAP and other nutritional programs represent the largest portion of farm bill funding and are administered by the USDA. Nutritional aid programs often represent about 70 percent of farm bill appropriations. Additionally, SNAP participation tends to follow poverty. Rural counties tend to have higher concentrations of poverty that non-rural counties.
Also, according to the USDA, individuals eligible for SNAP benefits must be “U.S. citizen or an eligible, lawfully-present non-citizen.” The definitions of “eligible, lawfully-present non-citizen” are quite restrictive and generally refer to children of lawful permanent residents and adult lawful permanent residents who have lived in the country for over five years.
Funding feud
The uncertainty regarding SNAP is part of the ongoing government shutdown. The shutdown centers on an appropriations fight between Congress and the White House over a border wall. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said he will not sign an appropriations bill that does not include money for the wall.
Thus far, congressional appropriations bills—some proposed recently and earlier efforts passed during the previous Congress when Republicans controlled both branches—have not included the full funding for a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico Trump has demanded.
One House-passed bill, H.R. 695 (115th Congress), included $5 billion for the wall and was passed on Dec. 20, 2018 with a highly partisan 217 to 185 vote. All yes votes came from Republicans and most no votes came from Democrats, though there were eight Republican representatives who voted against it. That was the final vote made on the bill after having been passed earlier in the year by the Senate. However, the House made changes to it, which then had to be accepted by the Senate, something that has not yet happened.
Last week saw the new House vote on a series of funding bills, aimed at getting the government restarted. One of them was H.R. 264 (116th Congress), which would fund portions of the government through Sept. 30, 2019, passed on a partisan vote of 240 to 188 vote. All no votes were from Republicans, but again eight Republican representatives joined Democrats in casting yes votes.
As of press time, the House was expected to vote on additional partial-funding bills, including one which would address SNAP funding. All these bills will have to clear the Senate and have been described as “dead on arrival” by political analysts as they lack the demanded wall funding and face a veto threat by the president.
Trump and new congressional Democrat leaders, most notably Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-12) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY), have been trading accusations of blame for the continued shutdown. Both sides have insisted the other needs to negotiate for the good of the country.
SNAP funding is one of the many areas of federal assistance that requires congressional appropriations. The facet of the now-expired Continuing Resolution that provides for the extended SNAP benefits will not be available after February.
“The natural question from SNAP recipients and states and the media will be, ‘What about March?’” noted Perdue during the press conference. He answered, saying, “We have provided an additional month of SNAP benefits with this solution; I believe this is ample time for Congress to act and to send the president an appropriations bill he is able to sign.”
Lipps had much the same to say to members of the media when asked about SNAP funding contingency plans after February. He said the process “should be seamless so long as Congress appropriates the funds for us to do so.”
Questions regarding what the USDA plans to do in the case of a shutdown lasting that long were not answered directly. — Kerry Halladay, WLJ editor
