Nearly 1 Million WA Residents At Risk Of Losing Food Assistance Due To Govt. Shutdown

Close to one million Washington residents are only days away from losing their access to federally-funded food assistance.

As the current government shutdown becomes more protracted, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has posted a notice at its website indicating that federal food aid will cease to all recipients after Oct. 31.

The USDA notice comes in the wake of a statement from the Trump administration saying it has no intention of utilizing $5 billion in contingency funding to keep the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) operational into November.

The SNAP program is relied upon for food assistance by about 1-in-8 U.S. residents, including almost 930,000 in Washington State (about 11.2% of its population) who comprise over 540,000 households.

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The shutdown is now the second-lengthiest in history at 27 days, after beginning on Oct. 1. And despite the administration's measures to ensure SNAP benefits would continue as normal through the first month of a government stoppage, there were no failsafes installed to maintain the program for any longer.

The shutdown is the result of an embittered impasse between Republicans and Democrats over expiring subsidies attached to the Affordable Care Act, which has both parties blaming the other for why the stalemate has become so overlong.

Many Democrats have made an appeal to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to utilize contingency funding to keep SNAP running through November, but a subsequent memo from the USDA on Friday outlined reasons why it says such funds cannot be legally applied to the current issue, as they are only earmarked to provide disaster relief.

The reality that tens-of-millions of U.S. residents could go hungry if a solution isn't found to reopen the government by the end of the week has many states gravely concerned.

Several states have said they intend to continue funding SNAP even without federal assistance, but it's questionable if that would even be legally allowed to happen, and the USDA memo also warns that states would not be reimbursed for any money they spend to provide a temporary stopgap in food assistance for their residents.

Many states are advising those receiving SNAP funds to be prepared to acquire food from local food banks in lieu of using their usually-allotted benefits.

A statement from Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson's office this week said of the impending crisis, “President Trump controls the White House and both chambers of Congress. It’s clear where the responsibility lies to keep the government running. These political games are harming the most vulnerable Washingtonians. President Trump and Congressional Republicans are to blame for this unnecessary crisis.”

Meanwhile, the notice from USDA - along with numerous other memos and statements from the federal government, are placing the blame on Democrats for the continuing government closure.

Many lawmakers in Washington D.C. on both sides of the aisle have been quoted as saying they believe the government could easily reopen, and the potential food benefits crisis averted, if negotiations between the two sides would simply be allowed to resume.