RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia is moving forward with plans to use state funds to provide emergency food benefits to more than 800,000 residents starting Monday, despite recent court rulings that may affect the program.
Carl Ayers, Principal Deputy Commissioner for Virginia's Department of Social Services, said officials are reviewing the judge's rulings to determine their impact. However, the state is still planning to implement the emergency benefits program announced by Gov. Glenn Youngkin earlier this week.
Youngkin declared a state of emergency to allow the use of state dollars to pay for people's benefits through a program called VENA. The benefits will be loaded onto recipients' EBT cards, though the payment schedule will differ slightly from the normal timeline.
People who usually receive payments on Saturday, Nov. 1, will now get paid on Monday, Nov. 3. Those typically paid on Tuesday, Nov. 4, will receive benefits on Wednesday, Nov. 5. Recipients scheduled for Friday, Nov. 7, will still get paid that day.
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"The lawsuits, the judges' orders, any appeals that will come from those orders, all of those, 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.
The governor has allocated an additional $1 million to Virginia's Food Bank Network to ensure adequate resources during this period.
Another significant change is how often payments will be distributed. Instead of providing a lump sum for the month, the state will issue weekly payments, costing approximately $37.5 million each week.
Ayers noted that once the federal SNAP program resumes normal operations, the state program will end, though the transition back will take about three days.
WATCH: Virginia creates 'never been done' emergency plan to save food benefits for 850,000
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