After a temporary increase in SNAP due to a pandemic was rolled back earlier this month, millions of Americans have been rushing to put food on the table.
Congress approved a law in early 2020 in response to rising food insecurity caused by the epidemic, guaranteeing SNAP households an additional $95 per month to spend on food.
However, as of the February SNAP distribution, at least 18 states had discontinued the pandemic-related additional allocations.
As a result, several states have passed laws to enhance SNAP or have encouraged residents to make donations to food banks and pantries in an effort to cover the gap left by the reduction in benefits.
Advocacy groups like the Food Research & Action Center say that increasing the minimum monthly benefits of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the best way to improve the program.
Legislators in New Mexico did this in 2021 for all recipients, and lawmakers in Maryland did this for people over the age of 62 just last year.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, as of February 16th, at least 131 bills had been submitted in state legislatures around the country since the beginning of the year with the express purpose of improving SNAP programs.
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Although a small number of state legislators have enacted or filed bills to increase SNAP benefits generally in order to make up for the recently decreased funds, the program remains mostly unaffected.
Some of Those Laws Are Described in Detail Below.
A New Jersey
From March 1, 2018, households registered in SNAP in New Jersey will continue to receive at least $95 per month in food assistance according to a bill signed into law last month by Democratic Governor Phil Murphy.
In the state, the minimum monthly SNAP payout was raised from $50 to $95.
“That’s a more reasonable floor than what the federal minimum benefit is,” Ellen Vollinger, the director of SNAP at FRAC, said.
Massachusetts
Six hundred thirty thousand households in Massachusetts already receive SNAP benefits, and as a result, the Bay State is proposing legislation that would provide an “off-ramp” for these families.
To assist cushion the pain of the March 1 cuts, the plan proposes that the state pay up to 40 percent of a household’s epidemic-era SNAP payments for the next three months.
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The bill has already passed the state House, so it’s up to the Senate to decide whether or not to send the aid package to Democratic Governor Maura Healey.
California
At least six pieces of legislation dealing with SNAP have been proposed in California’s legislature so far this session. The state’s SNAP program, CalFresh, would see an increase to a minimum monthly payment of $50 under a plan sponsored by Democratic state senator Caroline Menjivar in 2018.
In the State of West Virginia
Emergency SNAP benefits, which West Virginians have received on the first of every month since April 2020, ended on March 1st.
Over the course of the current legislative session, which began in early January, at least five proposals connected to SNAP have been submitted by state lawmakers.
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Another one of those proposals, sponsored by Delegate Kayla Young (D), would force the state to enhance monthly SNAP benefits to be “at least comparable to the federal emergency allotments” for pregnant persons and families with children.
