Iowa HHS warns November SNAP benefits may be delayed due to government shutdown

DES MOINES — The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services is warning Iowans who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits that November funds may not be issued onto SNAP cards as the federal government shutdown approaches its third week with no end in sight.

Iowa HHS on Friday afternoon issued a release alerting Iowa SNAP recipients that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service, which oversees the program, directed all states not to issue November benefits if the government shutdown continues into next month.

“Iowa HHS is alerting Iowans who use SNAP that due to the federal shutdown continuing, there is a possibility that November benefits will not be issued onto cards,” Iowa HHS said in a statement. “Iowa received notification from the Food and Nutrition Service late last week directing the state, and all states nationwide, not to issue November benefits.”

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The federal government shutdown began Oct. 1. On Thursday, Senate Democrats rejected for the 10th time a stopgap spending bill that would reopen the government, insisting they won’t back away from demands that Congress take up health care benefits.

SNAP supports roughly 131,000 Iowa households per month. Thirty-two percent of SNAP recipients in Iowa are children, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services. The program receives $45 million in federal funding for benefits.

Federal SNAP funding remains fully funded through October, but funding for November is uncertain because this government shutdown coincides with the start of a new fiscal year, meaning federal agencies don’t yet have ongoing spending authority.

Iowa HHS said it will continue to monitor the situation closely and provide updates as they become available. The department also added that it has engaged food bank and pantry partners and community-based organizations to “prepare to provide additional support to impacted Iowans.”

Luke Elzinga, board chair of the Iowa Hunger Coalition, warned earlier this month that even if federal nutrition benefits remain intact, the shutdown could deepen Iowa’s existing food insecurity challenges. November is traditionally one of the busiest months for food pantries, he told The Gazette, and inflation and higher food prices have already strained household budgets.

If the shutdown continues and November is impacted, “that will absolutely affect food pantries — at a time when we're already … facing unprecedented need and the busiest month of the year,” Elzinga said.

Iowa HHS is advising people who receive SNAP assistance to retain their cards throughout the shutdown and the agency says it will work to process benefits once the shutdown ends.

Updates can be found on the Iowa HHS website at hhs.iowa.gov/snap.

Gazette Deputy Des Moines Bureau Chief Tom Barton contributed to this report.