RICHMOND, Va. β Millions of Americans and Virginians who rely on food assistance are facing uncertainty as funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has run out due to the government shutdown.
"I felt frustrated. I felt angry," said Lynette Hicks, a SNAP benefits recipient.
The ongoing partisan debate about reopening the government has left more than 30 days of shutdown behind. This puts tens of millions of Americans, including more than 800,000 Virginians, at risk of not being able to afford food.
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"No one is considering how the government shutdown is affecting people such as myself who rely on SNAP benefits to feed our families," Hicks said.
In response, Gov. Glenn Youngkin created a statewide program called Virginia Emergency Nutrition Assistance (VENA). The program uses state funds to continue food benefits through an emergency declaration made in late October.
"The state is going to step in for a while, we can't do it forever because we have the financial resources to do so because we have been as strong financially as we've ever been and we're going to provide these much-needed benefits for food assistance," Youngkin said.
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Starting Monday, benefits will be loaded onto recipients' EBT cards. Recipients normally paid on the 1st of the month will now be paid on Monday, Nov. 3. Those paid on Tuesday will now receive benefits on Wednesday, Nov. 5, while Virginians like Hicks will continue to receive payments on Friday, Nov. 7.
Hicks questions how long a program like this can realistically last.
"What are you going to do later on next month. The government shutdown has to be addressed," Hicks said. "It's not just affecting me and my food stamps, it's affecting government workers and a lot of other people."
As state funding for food assistance kicks in, two federal judges ruled Friday that the administration must continue funding SNAP using contingency funds during the government shutdown.
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Carl Ayers, Principal Deputy Commissioner for Virginia's Department of Social Services, says the DSS is prepared to reopen SNAP benefits, a move that could take three days pending guidance from the courts.
"Whenever we get guidance from the USDA, we will follow that and at the point we are able to reopen SNAP benefits and we will sunset the VENA program," Ayers said.
Hicks only hopes now that a true long-term solution can be enacted to prevent lasting damage to Virginians.
"The grocery stores don't care about your political affiliation," Hicks said. "Affiliation doesn't mean anything to people like myself that are receiving these benefits."
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