SNAP Benefits Partially Restored: What It Means For MI

President Donald Trump’s administration said Monday that it will partially fund SNAP payments to Michigan recipients in November after a pair of judges’ rulings required it to keep the food aid program running.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture froze payments to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program over the weekend because it said it could no longer keep funding it due to the government shutdown. The program serves about 1 in 8 Americans and is a major piece of the nation’s social safety net. It costs about $8 billion per month nationally.

NBC News reported the administration plans to use all $4.65 billion in contingency funds to cover about half of each eligible household's SNAP benefits this month. The administration said it would need at least $4 billion in additional government funds to provide full SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps.

It’s not clear how much beneficiaries will receive, nor how quickly beneficiaries will see value show up on the debit cards they use to buy groceries. The process of loading the SNAP cards, which involves steps by state and federal government agencies and vendors, can take up to two weeks in some states. The average monthly benefit is usually about $190 per person.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the nation’s largest food program, said last month that benefits for November wouldn’t be paid out due to the federal government shutdown. That set off a scramble by food banks, state governments and the nearly 42 million Americans who receive the aid to find ways to ensure access to groceries.

Michigan was one of 21 other states that claimed despite the USDA's claim of insufficient funds, Congress has appropriated billions of dollars in SNAP-specific contingency funds to the agency in case of a situation like the shutdown.

"We are still awaiting more information on how much Michigan beneficiaries will receive, but I am gravely concerned that a delayed, partial payment will not be enough," Michigan Attroney General Dana Nessel said. "Roughly 42 million Americans – including more than a million Michiganders – depend on these benefits to feed their families, and now they’ll still have to wait at least a few days to receive even a portion of what they need."

Whitmer also directed $4.5 million to the Food Bank Council of Michigan to feed families leading up to the federal government’s decision to pause SNAP benefits.

The analysis of USDA Food and Nutrition Service data by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities shows that 1,474,400 Michiganders receive SNAP assistance. That’s 15 percent of the state population (1 in 7) who depend on benefits to keep food on the table.

According to the data, more than 59 percent of SNAP participants in Michigan are in families with children; more than 39 percent are in families with members who are older adults or are disabled; and more than 46 percent are in working families.