Louisiana braces for SNAP disruption amid federal shutdown
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Some Louisiana residents won't get new food stamp benefits this week as the government shutdown drags on, Gov. Jeff Landry warned.
Why it matters: Nearly 800,000 people in the state rely on the program, officially called SNAP, he says.
The big picture: Landry signed an emergency declaration Friday to "help fund" November SNAP benefits for elderly and disabled participants, along with children.
- That would cover about 565,000 people, most of whom are children, the state says.
- His office didn't immediately say whether recipients will get full or partial payments.
- The remaining SNAP recipients can access funds from previous months, according to Landry's office, but there's no money for new payments.
By the numbers: Louisiana SNAP benefits average about $6 per day for each household member, according to a report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
- More than 69% of SNAP participants in the state are families with children, according to the center's analysis.
Zoom out: Other states are facing the same challenges with funding SNAP, which is the nation's largest domestic food-assistance program.
- And that's on top of the sweeping changes to SNAP starting Saturday, including expanded work requirements, under the One Big Beautiful Bill, writes Axios' Avery Lotz.
- More than 2 million people could be cut from SNAP under the new work requirement provision, according to estimates from CBPP.
- The USDA said in a memo it can't use emergency funds to keep SNAP going past Oct. 31, and that states would not be reimbursed if they cover expenses on their own, Axios' Marc Caputo reported Friday.
Zoom in: Federal cutbacks have already affected food security for many families, and local food banks don't have enough to meet demand, pantry leaders say.
- The Second Harvest Food Bank expects to receive 4.8 million fewer meals' worth of food from the USDA for this fiscal year, which began in July, the organization says. It serves much of southeast Louisiana.
- "The dual challenges of the federal shutdown and shrinking USDA supplies have created a perfect storm for hunger relief efforts across the state," according to a Second Harvest press release.
What they're saying: "One federal employee wrote to tell us she had paid her mortgage but had no money left to feed her family," said Jon Toups, president and CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank, in a release. "Stories like hers are unfortunately becoming more common every day."