OKLAHOMA CITY — While some were able to get food for their families using temporary funding for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, many were turned away on Thursday when the money ran out.
A crowd formed outside of the Market at Eastpoint, at 1708 NE 23rd Street in Oklahoma City, on Wednesday afternoon, only to disburse around 4:45 p.m.
“They’re out,” customers called to each other as they went back to their cars. “They said to try again Monday.”
On Oct. 31, Gov. Kevin Stitt, House Speaker Kyle Hilbert and Senate President Pro Tempore Lonnie Paxton announced the state would make $1 million per week available to Oklahoma’s food banks for up to seven weeks.
According to the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, over 684,600 Oklahomans currently receive SNAP benefits. Existing funds on EBT cards have carried over, but it is unclear when new funds will be dispersed, or if recipients will receive the full amount. The process for loading funds onto EBT cards can take weeks.
Food pantries in Oklahoma have been seeing “a very large and quick uptick in people who have never come to a food pantry before,” said Stacy Dykstra, CEO of the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, during a press conference on Wednesday.
“Sending $1 million per week when normally SNAP benefits total more than $30 million a week directly to consumers, I’m worried about that, because that’s going to go to these charities, and they’re going to have to distribute it. I think we’re putting a lot of burden on these private charities,” said Senate Minority Leader Julia Kirt.
A federal judge’s ruling requires the Trump administration to use emergency funds on SNAP, which will pay half of what recipients usually get. The state has approved $72,000 to expedite these payments, although the Department of Human Services is still awaiting federal guidance on the process.
“It’s always a possibility, but that’s something that would take legislative action to tap into that, and declaration of emergency, it would be a lot more complicated and take a lot longer to make it happen. This is something we can do right now,” Paxton said.
According to a new SmartAsset study, 692,477 people in Oklahoma — about 17% of state residents — use SNAP. The average, per capita value of SNAP benefits in Oklahoma is $187. Oklahoma ranked 4th among U.S. states for the percent of its population who participate in the food program. New Mexico has the highest reliance on SNAP with 21.5% of the population enrolled.
