Alabama residents who depend on SNAP benefits for groceries are facing what could be a tough November. State officials say there will be no food stamp dollars next month, and it’s not just hungry families who will be hit. Eighteen rural Alabama counties are reportedly at risk of losing grocery stores if SNAP benefits are cut. The Center for American Progress used data from the USDA for its findings with Dallas and Wilcox counties at the top of the list.
The Center says more urban counties like Tuscaloosa and Montgomery may also lose grocery stores due to SNAP cuts. Grocery stores in rural counties depend for up to forty percent of their revenue from food stamp dollars. The Alabama Department of Human Resources says there will be no money for Food Stamps starting on Saturday due to the ongoing federal budget shutdown.
Published reports said Governors and attorneys generals from twenty five states sued to stop the White House from ending the funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Prorgram on November first as the government shutdown reached Day 28. The lawsuit, filed in Boston, called a looming funding cutoff contrary to law and capricious. The USDA says it can't use contingency dollars to pay for SNAP benefits. About 42 million Americans would lose their SNAP benefits.
Democrats accused President Donald Trump's administration of choosing to cut food stamps when it isn't necessary. “SNAP is one of our nation’s most effective tools to fight hunger, and the USDA has the money to keep it running," New York state Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. "There is no excuse for this administration to abandon families who rely on SNAP, or food stamps, as a lifeline."
The lawsuit argues suspending SNAP benefits is in violation of the Food and Nutrition Act, which requires that assistance shall be furnished to all eligible households. The attorneys general of Massachusetts, California, Arizona and Minnesota are leading the charge on the lawsuit. They jointly say withholding monthly food assistance payments would mark a first in the SNAP program's 60-year history. The states, as well as the District of Columbia, have asked a judge to move rapidly to force the USDA to use contingency dollars for November SNAP benefits and ensure that millions of families do not lose access to food assistance in the coming days.
