Summary
President Trump's plan to fund SNAP benefits is causing delays for states in distributing the aid. The USDA said it would take time because of older systems and bureaucratic challenges. The USDA is working with states to determine new benefit amounts and distribution dates.
Key Facts
- The USDA plans to use $4.65 billion in contingency funds to cover about half of the SNAP benefits.
- States might take weeks or months to distribute SNAP benefits due to system and procedural delays.
- The USDA filed in court that old state systems could slow down the process of implementing new benefit amounts.
- Around 42 million Americans rely on SNAP for food assistance.
- SNAP benefits are loaded onto EBT cards, similar to debit cards, every month.
- The USDA noted transferring funds from other programs like Child Nutrition could risk children’s access to school meals.
- SNAP benefits were frozen due to a government shutdown, prompting lawsuits that pushed for payments to resume.
- Each state has different schedules for distributing SNAP benefits, which may affect when payments are made available.
