ℹ️ Important Information on the SNAP Program |
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Dear Neighbor, As you probably know, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has decided to pause issuance of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payments. This pause will go into effect this Saturday, Nov. 1, and will last until the federal government shutdown ends. The SNAP program in Michigan is called the Food Assistance Program (FAP). If you are enrolled in FAP, the pause on federal SNAP payments affects you and you will not receive benefits until after the federal government reopens. I lament that the federal government has decided against keeping SNAP afloat using emergency contingency funds, as it did for the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) nutrition assistance program earlier this month. Additionally, in 2019, the USDA used contingency funds to ensure benefits were distributed during a government shutdown. If you or a loved one needs help accessing food while SNAP benefits are paused, there may be resources in your area that can help you. I urge anyone in this situation to go to Michigan 211 to search for food resources in or around your ZIP code. Doing this will give you a list of the food banks nearest to you and their hours of operation. As valuable as food banks are to reducing hunger in our community, we cannot keep everyone fed through private charities alone. That is why Michigan House Democrats are introducing legislation to fund FAP for three months using emergency state funds. My colleagues and I will fight as hard as we can to get this legislation passed. I know that this is an extremely trying time for many in our community. Please reach out to my office if I can be of any assistance. Yours in service, |
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Sharon MacDonell |