PHOENIX — Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes joined 22 other state attorneys general in a letter to Brooke Rollins, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to demand more information on what will happen with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits amid the ongoing government shutdown.
Mayes noted that more than 900,000 Arizonans rely on SNAP benefits each month.
“As Donald Trump demolishes portions of the White House to build his golden ballroom, families all across Arizona are about to go hungry because of the incompetence and failure of leadership in Washington,” Mayes said in a Friday announcement.
The letter Mayes signed on to asks the following questions:
- Does USDA/Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) have contingency funds left over from prior Congressional appropriations? If so, what is the total of those contingency funds?
- Does USDA/FNS have access to any other sources of available funds to pay benefits and administrative costs associated with issuing those benefits?
- Does USDA/FNS intend to use such funds to furnish SNAP benefits, even at a reduced level? If not, why not? And if so, how does the agency intend to execute that plan, and when would States be expected to send their benefit issuance files?
- Assuming USDA/FNS has contingency funds, on what grounds did the agency direct States to “hold” November files, rather than reducing allotments consistent with available funds?
In a letter from the USDA dated Oct. 10, state agencies and directors that administer the SNAP program were notified that there could be insufficient funds to provide full benefits in November.
It noted that 42 million individuals are supplemented by the program throughout the country.
“Any suspension or delay in benefits due to the federal government’s failure to act would be a direct assault on the health and well-being of millions of Americans,” Mayes said.
Mayes joins Hobbs in fighting for SNAP
Gov. Katie Hobbs said it was “devastating” that Arizonans might lose SNAP benefits in November because of the shutdown during a Friday morning press briefing.
“It’s going to be very challenging for Arizonans,” Hobbs said. “We have somewhere around a million families that rely on SNAP benefits … This is what helps them put food on the table.”
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