Maryland and over two dozen Democratic attorneys general and governors are suing the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) over its suspension of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
Four weeks into the federal government shutdown with no immediate end in sight, SNAP is set to run out of funding at the end of October, which means come Nov. 1, over 680,000 Marylanders will lose access to federal food assistance.
Gov. Wes Moore announced Friday the state would not foot the bill for the federally funded benefits, arguing the USDA has the reserves and legal responsibility to continue paying SNAP benefits despite the shutdown.
Moore is referring to a $6 billion SNAP contingency fund that he and Maryland Human Services Secretary Raphael López argue should be tapped into to ensure food assistance persists in the coming weeks.
It costs the federal government roughly $8 billion a month to fund SNAP, which provides about 1 in 8 U.S. residents an average of $187 a month in food aid.
The USDA argues these funds are “only available to supplement regular monthly benefits when amounts have been appropriated for, but are insufficient to cover, benefits.”
Since annual government appropriations lapsed on Oct. 1 without Congress passing a new budget measure, future SNAP appropriations do not currently exist.
But with the Trump administration finding ways to fund other programs amid the shutdown, like using an unexpired defense research fund to pay active-duty military salaries, López calls the SNAP suspension a breach of federal law.
“We believe they're acting lawlessly. We believe that they actually have the authority to be able to use, for example, existing contingency funds and others. And we believe they are choosing not to do that,” López said.
Two Maryland General Assembly committees are convening Wednesday to discuss Maryland’s response to the funding shortfalls, but López says the federal government has made it clear it will not reimburse states for any food benefits they provide.
“Suspending SNAP benefits in this manner is both contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act. Where Congress has clearly spoken, providing that SNAP benefits should continue even during a government shutdown, USDA does not have the authority to say otherwise,” a statement from Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown reads.
The coalition of Democratic states also intend to file a temporary restraining order Tuesday asking the court to immediately turn benefits back on.
In the meantime, López says his department continues to partner with regional food banks, like Maryland Food Bank and Capital Area Food Bank, and nonprofits to provide food assistance.
“We continue, for example, to work with nonprofit organizations across the state, in working with USDA, with commodities, to purchase food that we already had on deck, to make sure that we are doing everything we can to be creative and leverage every single dollar we have,” the secretary said.
Maryland 211 runs a database with a list of local food pantries throughout Maryland, which can be found here.
López clarifies Maryland’s temporary cash assistance (TCA), temporary disability assistance program (TDAP), Medicaid benefits and medical assistance programs are thus far not affected by the government shutdown for the month of November.
