(The Center Square) – Lt. Gov. Austin Davis rallied support for the state’s charitable food network Monday to brace for need driven by stalled federal payments toward the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance program, or SNAP.
Following Gov. Josh Shapiro’s emergency declaration that freed up $5 million in state funding to support food banks, two federal judges ruled against the U.S. Department of Agriculture in a lawsuit brought by a coalition of 25 states and governors, including Shapiro.
“It should not have taken a lawsuit to make the federal government use available funding for SNAP benefits,” said Davis at the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. “Now that the courts have ruled, I encourage the Trump Administration to follow the law, listen to the courts and pay up.”
The ruling means the SNAP program will at least be partially funded moving forward, but it could take weeks for momentum to be restored and payments to go into effect. That means the state’s charitable food network will be picking up the slack. There are about two million people in the commonwealth who receive SNAP, including about 713,000 children.
“State government can do a lot, but we cannot backfill the loss of federally funded SNAP benefits caused by the federal government shutdown,” said Davis.
Food banks were already struggling to meet demand before the loss of SNAP went into effect. Julie Bancroft, CEO at Feeding Pennsylvania, says hunger in the state has risen 44% in just the past two years. She said that one in six children in the state go hungry, with food banks serving millions across the state.
“With a surge in people turning to us and local food pantries as SNAP benefits lapse, the charitable feeding network is working hard to help our neighbors navigate this time,” said Lisa Scales, president and CEO of Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. “The emergency funding from the state will help infuse more food into the network, which is an important step toward meeting the enormous need.”
Davis was joined at the food bank by several other officials from the Shapiro administration, including Agriculture Secretary Russel Redding.
“Cutting off SNAP benefits not only hurts two million Pennsylvania seniors, veterans, and families with children, it hurts the farm families, and those who hold the 12,000 grocery industry jobs across the state supported by SNAP spending,” said Redding.
While promoting a Democratic initiative to leverage interest on the state’s rainy day fund to support food banks, Sen. Art Haywood, D-Abington, recounted a conversation with a grocery store owner who said that 80% of his customers rely on SNAP to make their purchases. The owner said he’s worried he may have to lay off employees or ultimately lose his business.
According to Pittsburgh’s Just Harvest, 100,000 businesses sell $350 million in groceries to families with SNAP benefits every month.
The administration has also called on private individuals to lend a hand if they can. On Friday, Shapiro also initiated a fundraising campaign for the SNAP Emergency Relief Fund, which kicked off with about one million dollars in support.
“As we await direction to hopefully begin to leverage contingency funding, I urge those who are able to build on Governor Shapiro’s emergency investment and support our charitable food network,” said Department of Human Services Special Assistant Stephanie Meyer. “Food banks like the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank and other anti-hunger organizations do life-saving work every day, but especially now through this unprecedented disruption to SNAP.”
