By GEOFF MULVIHILL and DAVID A. LIEB Associated Press
State officials are working to restore full SNAP benefits to millions of people after the long U.S. government shutdown finally ended.
The Illinois Department of Human Services, which previously issued partial November benefits, said Thursday that it is “working to restore full SNAP benefits.” But it won’t happen instantly.
“We anticipate that the remaining benefit payments will be made over several days, starting tomorrow,” the department said in a statement, and that “all SNAP recipients will receive their full November benefits by November 20th.”
A back-and-forth series of court rulings and shifting policies from President Donald Trump’s administration has led to a patchwork distribution of November benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. While some states had already issued full SNAP benefits, about two-thirds of states had issued only partial benefits or none at all before the government shutdown ended late Wednesday, according to an Associated Press tally.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which runs the program, issued new guidance Thursday, instructing: “State agencies must take immediate steps to ensure households receive their full November allotments promptly.”
The federal food program serves about 42 million people, about 1 in 8 Americans, in lower-income households. They receive an average of $190 per person per month, though that doesn’t necessarily cover the full cost of groceries in a regular month.
Because of the uncertainty over benefits, the USDA told states to exclude November from a federal requirement that most adult SNAP recipients work, volunteer or participate in job training for at least 80 hours a month. Under normal circumstances, recipients can go up to 3 months without meeting the work requirements within a span of 3 years.
The legislation to reopen the U.S. government provides full SNAP benefits not only for November but also for the remainder of the federal fiscal year, which runs through next September. Citing that legislation, the Justice Department on Thursday dropped its request for the Supreme Court to continue blocking a judicial order to pay full SNAP benefits.
