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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nPresident Donald Trump\u2019s administration said Monday that it will partially fund SNAP payments to Florida recipients in November after a pair of judges\u2019 rulings required it to keep the food aid program running.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The U.S. Department of Agriculture froze payments to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program over the weekend because it said it could no longer keep funding it due to the government shutdown. The program serves about 1 in 8 Americans and is a major piece of the nation\u2019s social safety net. It costs about $8 billion per month nationally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NBC News<\/a> reported the administration plans to use all $4.65 billion in contingency funds to cover about half of each eligible household’s SNAP benefits this month. The administration said it would need at least $4 billion in additional government funds to provide full SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s not clear how much beneficiaries will receive, nor how quickly beneficiaries will see value show up on the debit cards they use to buy groceries. The process of loading the SNAP cards, which involves steps by state and federal government agencies and vendors, can take up to two weeks in some states. The average monthly benefit is usually about $190 per person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the nation\u2019s largest food program, said last month that benefits for November wouldn\u2019t be paid out due to the federal government shutdown<\/a>. That set off a scramble by food banks, state governments and the nearly 42 million Americans who receive the aid to find ways to ensure access to groceries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday that the state\u2019s agriculture department will \u201cbe doing more\u201d to help the nearly 3 million Florida residents whose federal food assistance is at risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the governor blamed state Democrats for any SNAP funding lapse, and will not follow their request to declare an emergency, tap into emergency funds and distribute food aid, The Miami Herald<\/a> said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m getting letters from Democrats saying, \u2018You should declare an emergency and create your own SNAP,\u2019 when they\u2019re the ones that are filibustering SNAP,\u201d DeSantis said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last week, all 43 Democratic Florida state legislators wrote to the governor asking him to declare a state of emergency over the impending halt in SNAP funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is not speculation; it\u2019s reality,\u201d the lawmakers, led by state House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell and state Senate Minority Leader Lori Berman, said in the letter<\/a>. \u201cWe are days away from a full-blown hunger emergency that will leave families without food during the holiday season. The state cannot stand by.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n