In March 2020, as COVID lockdowns were rolling out across the country, Congress approved extra support for households receiving food stamps through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). But a provision of the spending bill approved by Congress in December will end the program, known as Emergency Allotments (EA).
“States are not allowed to issue EA for benefit month March 2023, or later, under any circumstance,” USDA officials wrote in a Jan. 6 memo.
Now, advocates and food banks are bracing for an abrupt end to what they say has become a vital source of support for people who lost income amid the chaos of the last three years.
Since the pandemic began, officials with the Nevada Division of Welfare and Supportive Services have given out more than $1 billion in additional SNAP benefits. But the extra assistance will stop after March 14.
That has Jocelyn Lantrip with the Food Bank of Northern Nevada concerned.
“It’s definitely going to be a rough spring for a lot of people,” she said.
In Nevada alone, 450,000 people have received supplemental SNAP funding. The food bank has helped record numbers of people since the pandemic began, Lantrip said, and as the end of the program draws near, she and her colleagues fear food insecurity will rise even higher.
“We are absolutely preparing for an increase in need. Beginning, I would imagine, in April,” she said. “It will be significant.”
Lantrip estimates the average family will see their total SNAP allotment cut almost in half. But she’s most concerned about seniors, who often rely on Social Security and other forms of fixed income that fail to keep pace with rising costs.
“Many seniors will see more than a 90 percent decrease in their benefits,” she said. “That’s really difficult when people are already struggling.”
According to state officials, the USDA bolstered budgets for food banks to help address food insecurity in anticipation of the reduction in benefits.
But MK Archambault, who started the Reno/Sparks Mutual Aid Facebook group as a way for community members to help each other during the pandemic, said the reduction in food assistance is coming at a critical time.
“There are people who are getting socked right now with rent increases, with the price of groceries rising, with gas that was $5 a gallon for months,” she said.
The majority of people who qualify for SNAP have jobs, but their wages aren’t keeping pace with the high cost of living in the Truckee Meadows, Archambault said. She also sees many people with disabilities and seniors who get food assistance asking for help in the Facebook group because SNAP doesn’t meet all their needs – even with the additional funds.
“Typically, we see an increase in requests around the 25th of the month,” she said. “I expect we’re going to see more requests for help with food throughout the entire month.”
While Archambault fears the reduction in food assistance could force more people out of the community, she also sees an opportunity for Nevada to chart a new course.
“We could be a national leader in providing for our most vulnerable people,” she said. “I feel like, as a state, we could do it. It’s a question of ‘Is there the will? Is there the political will?’ ”
More information and resources for affected residents are available on the Food Bank of Northern Nevada’s website.
