(The Center Square) – Recipients in North Carolina of benefits through the food stamps and WIC programs will continue to receive them in October, the state Health Department says.
More than 1.4 million people rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and roughly 262,000 women, infants and children rely on the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children program. Potentially for November and beyond, the federal government is deciding on programs exempt and providing guidance to the Department of Health and Human Services.
The two programs are among the major impacts of a government shutdown in North Carolina.
The state has roughly 91,000, or 7%, of the nation’s 1.3 million active-duty military hopeful the shutdown ends before the next paycheck due Wednesday of next week.
Sick days by air traffic controllers or Transportation Security Administration workers could impact air travel. Charlotte Douglass International is among the world’s busiest with about 118,000 passengers daily; Raleigh-Durham International handles another 40,000 or so a day and Piedmont Triad International just under 5,000.
Food assistance, however, has the broadest reach to North Carolinians.
“Food and nutrition are foundational to good health and people should not have to worry about their families and communities going hungry,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Dev Sangvai in a release. “NCDHHS hopes for a quick resolution to the federal shutdown to ensure people in North Carolina are not at risk of losing critical food benefits.”
