Massachusetts defies USDA: Full SNAP benefits issued despite federal threats
All Massachusetts residents eligible so far this month for federal government food assistance have received their full SNAP benefits, Gov. Maura Healey said Monday afternoon.
"My message to every SNAP recipient out there is this: Forget the noise that you're hearing from Donald Trump . Forget the noise about further appeals to the Supreme Court," Healey said at a press conference in her office. "I want you to know, because of the actions that we took, SNAP benefits have been restored to your cards. Go out and buy the food that you need to feed your family."
A flurry of court action s surrounding the delivery of SNAP benefits has continued to create turmoil around the federal program amid the ongoing government shutdown.
SNAP benefits are delivered on a staggered basis over the first half of the month. Healey acknowledged there's a "timeline for when people receive SNAP."
"I can tell you that anybody who has been eligible to receive SNAP to date, or who missed their payments last week, has received their SNAP benefits now," the governor said. "Now we'll continue to apply for and send out SNAP benefits as people become eligible over the coming days and months in the normal course. That's how it works in the normal course."
A federal judge earlier Monday temporarily blocked an effort by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to force states to take back the full SNAP benefits they issued, Attorney General Andrea Campbell's office said. Further relief will be up for discussion at a 3:30 p.m. federal court hearing on Monday.
On Saturday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture asserted that states that sent full SNAP payment files for November were "unauthorized," called on states to "undo any steps taken to issue full SNAP benefits for November, and threatened non-compliant states with the cancellation of federal cost-sharing.
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