State funds for the first 15 days of monthly food assistance went out Friday to 36,000 Vermont households who participate in the federal program, the Department of Children and Families announced in a press release.
“We are deeply grateful for the commitment and teamwork that brought this complex process to completion,” said Miranda Gray, economic services deputy commissioner. “And most importantly, Vermonters can buy food today.”
Vermont is one of just a few states, including New Mexico and Virginia, where the state government moved quickly to provide direct replacement benefits for households enrolled in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also called SNAP.
November payments in the program, called 3SquaresVT, have been paused since Saturday due to the federal government shutdown, now in its fifth week, leaving local food shelves struggling to fill the gap. Most other state governments have focused on directing additional funding to statewide food banks and other social services organizations. (Vermont leaders authorized $250,000 for the Vermont Food Bank to distribute to meet the additional demand this week.)
Vermont’s department delivered roughly $6 million in benefits — approved by the state’s Emergency Board on Oct. 29 — as the Trump administration sent more mixed messages on when the federal government would provide partial emergency funding for the program required by orders issued by different judges in two federal court cases.
The U.S. Department of Justice appealed an order a federal judge in Rhode Island District Court handed down Thursday demanding that the USDA fully fund November food benefits. A federal appeals court denied that appeal late Friday and upheld the lower court’s order.
Later Friday, Politico and other outlets reported that the USDA had told states that it was working to comply with the order to fully fund the program, and that it would make the necessary financial shifts “later today.”
By early evening, the Trump administration had not appealed another order requiring at least partial payment, in Massachusetts District Court, that came as part of a multistate lawsuit joined last week by Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark.
The Vermont Emergency Board is expected to reconvene on or before Nov. 13 to determine whether further state action is needed.
Theo Wells-Spackman, VTDigger’s Report for America corps member, contributed reporting.
