A rapid-fire legal back-and-forth over low-income food assistance has created uncertainty for people who rely on the program – including whether those who received their full benefits for November may have to pay some of the money back.
Due to the ongoing federal government shutdown, regular funds for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – also known as SNAP, food stamps and CalFresh in California – were depleted at the end of October. After lawsuits from some states, the Trump administration on Thursday was ordered to use about $4 billion in emergency funds to keep the program going.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said at the time that states could begin dispersing full benefit amounts even as it asked the courts to require only partial benefit payments. Several states, including California, quickly began to dole out benefits.
On Friday night the Supreme Court granted the request to block full SNAP payments as the case works its way through the courts. On Saturday the USDA sent a letter to states demanding they only pay the required 65% of regular allotments and “immediately undo” any full payments that had been made.
By then, California officials said people had already begun receiving their full benefit amounts, including in Sacramento County.
Local administrators on Sunday were awaiting further guidance from the state during the quickly evolving situation, said Janna Haynes, a county spokeswoman.
“Our CalFresh folks that typically see benefits funded the 1st-7th (of each month) were fully funded,” Haynes said in a text message Sunday. “What I don’t know is how this impacts the (people who typically get paid between the) 8th-10th.”
Haynes said administrators would know more about whether it is legal or possible to require people to pay the funds back on Monday, when they expected more information from the state.
“This isn’t over and we still need to come together as a community to support our food banks, particularly as we go into the holidays,” Haynes said.
The stern USDA memo warned that noncompliance could result in states losing federal funding for the program as well as the federal government “holding states liable for any overissuances.”
SNAP helps nearly 42 million Americans, including 5.5 million people in California, secure healthy food each month. About 270,000 individuals and children benefit from the program in Sacramento County.
Food banks in the Sacramento region have reported above-average usage during the government shutdown, which began Oct. 1 and has left hundreds of thousands of federal workers furloughed or working without pay.
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Nicole Nixon
The Sacramento Bee
Nicole Nixon covers California politics for The Sacramento Bee’s Capitol Bureau. Previously, she spent nearly a decade reporting for public radio stations in Sacramento and her hometown of Salt Lake City.
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