PHOENIX — Gov. Katie Hobbs criticized federal funding decisions she believes are harming Arizonans by jeopardizing food assistance and reducing unemployment claim staff during a Friday morning press briefing.
She called it “devastating” that Arizonans might lose SNAP benefits in November because of the government shutdown.
“It is infuriating that the president is playing politics with this,” Hobbs said. “He should, quite honestly, follow my lead. When we got a partisan budget that cut services for Arizonans, I vetoed it. We forced the legislative leaders back to the table and we got a good budget for Arizonans.”
Why are Arizona SNAP recipients in danger of losing food assistance?
The U.S. government shutdown happened after Democrats rejected a House bill to reopen the government, insisting that Republicans first extend Affordable Care Act tax credits that lower health insurance costs.
On Thursday, the Arizona Department of Economic Security (DES) said that the government shutdown means it can’t reload monthly benefits for SNAP recipients.
“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.”
Trump administration has been negatively impacting DES for a while, Hobbs says
DES has said it will continue to accept applications for food assistance despite the issues in Congress.
However, this situation is just one example of the way President Donald Trump’s policies are throwing the department into chaos, according to Hobbs.
“I’m very concerned about the issues with unemployment,” she said. “I know that our ability to respond has been very hampered by federal cuts, not from this budget and not from the shutdown, but federal cuts that forced us to lay off hundreds of DES employees who process these claims.”
In June, the Arizona Department of Economic Security (DES) laid off about 5% of its staff after the Trump administration cut federal grants for unemployment insurance and shifted more costs to states, according to ABC15. DES provides services like child care, unemployment benefits, housing support and cash assistance to Arizonans.
“We’re trying to fix it as quickly as possible,” Hobbs said. “Arizonans shouldn’t have to wait to get the benefits they’re entitled to.”
Katie Hobbs says Arizona struggling with disaster assistance as well as SNAP
Hobbs said she didn’t want to point fingers but considers it important to focus on the causes of new threats to Arizonans’ economic instability.
“This chaos in Washington, regardless of who’s to blame, is harming Arizonans,” she said. “We’re talking about food stamp cuts that will be devastating for so many Arizona families. We’re talking about delays in flights and at airports.”
The ongoing congressional gridlock is also slowing Arizona’s recovery from recent natural disasters, straining resources and delaying aid for communities still reeling from wildfires and floods, she added.
“We’re talking about small business loans that aren’t getting to small businesses that are depending on them, including the Grand Canyon area that was devastated by fire and that’s harming small businesses, the Globe area that was impacted by flooding,” Hobbs said.
“These things are all impacting Arizonans and Washington politicians really need to get their stuff together and figure this out and stop playing political games.”
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