Political leaders in Maryland and Virginia have conflicting opinions on President Donald Trump’s administration’s announcement Monday to only partially fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for the month of November.
The White House plans to use about $4.65 billion from the SNAP contingency fund to partially fulfill the benefits. The Department of Agriculture, which oversees SNAP, had planned to freeze payments starting Nov. 1 because it said it could no longer keep funding it during the federal government shutdown.
However, two federal judges on Friday sided with state attorneys general and governors from 25 states, as well as D.C., who sued the Trump administration for freezing SNAP payments. The judges ordered the federal government to provide a plan on how the program will be funded.
Maryland covers missing SNAP funding
Maryland will release $62 million to ensure full SNAP benefits for Marylanders through November, Gov. Wes Moore announced Monday in an executive order.
Moore said the funding represents the state’s contribution to making SNAP recipients whole after the federal government only committed to covering half of the program.
“One of the first and most basic priorities of governing is to ensure that families do not go hungry,” Moore said in a news release.
Last week, Moore declared a state of emergency, sending $10 million to food banks operating across the state. Both sets of funds will be coming from the state’s Fiscal Responsibility Fund.
While the federal government committed to cover up to 50% of the benefits, the news release stated that the Trump administration has not indicated “whether states will receive reimbursement for expenditures to make the program whole.”
“We will continue to do everything in our power to protect our people in these difficult times,” Moore said. “But no state can fill the enormous gap created by Donald Trump and his administration. It’s time for the federal government to do its job and fully fund food assistance.”
Virginia’s Walkinshaw calls half payments ‘unacceptable’
Democratic Rep. James Walkinshaw, who represents a large part of Fairfax County in Virginia, said he’s not satisfied with the decision.
“Half is better than nothing, but it’s unacceptable. Honestly, the delay that we’ve seen is unacceptable,” he told WTOP.
Walkinshaw spent the past week touring several local food banks, including working in a food pantry that benefited the Arlington Food Assistance Center. He said local food banks are working overtime to meet the need brought on by DOGE cuts, high prices and the government shutdown.
“The contingency fund exists for these purposes. They should’ve been used,” Walkinshaw said. “We shouldn’t have had this delay. Unfortunately, that’s where we are and we have to work through it.”
Virginia announced it would use its budget surplus to fund a state-level replacement for SNAP benefits, dubbed the “Virginia Emergency Nutrition Assistance,” or VENA.
The newly-created program is expected to send money to SNAP beneficiaries’ EBT cards. The Vena funds are distributed weekly.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.