As Saturday gets closer and closer, nearly 3 million New Yorkers are facing a potential disruption to their SNAP benefits due to the ongoing federal government shutdown and the political gridlock that is preventing its end.
On Thursday, Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency and announced several efforts the state is making to help the people who are facing an imminent crisis. They include:
- Providing an additional $65 million for two programs that support food banks, pantries, soup kitchens, and other food assistance providers. Hochul said the money will provide 40 million meals.
- Expanding the number of paid hours available to members of the Empire State Service Corps so they can provide greater support to food pantries across the state.
- Creating new short-term crisis response positions within the service corps to assist food banks and food pantries facing staffing shortages.
Earlier this week, Hochul announced the state was fast-tracking $41 million for emergency food assistance. The $65 million she announced on Thursday comes on top of that.
But the advocacy groups Hunger Free America, Citizen Action of New York, and VOCAL-NY released a message calling on Hochul to go further and use state money to cover SNAP benefits for New Yorkers for all or part of November. They noted that Virginia and Delaware have committed to doing so on a week-by-week basis.
A news release from Hochul's office said the state administers roughly $650 million a month in federal SNAP funding for New York recipients.
