Federal ruling releasing SNAP benefits will help Iowans access food, but not immediately, advocates warn

Iowa anti-hunger advocates said rulings by two federal judges that order the Trump administration to fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program using contingency funds during the government shutdown offer some hope, but not immediate relief to the hundreds of thousands of Iowans who rely on the federal food aid program.

“We honestly don’t know” yet what the rulings mean for Iowa households expecting benefits starting Saturday, Luke Elzinga, board chair of the Iowa Hunger Coalition, said Friday. “Right now, I don’t think that SNAP benefits will be going out tomorrow, though.”

Elzinga said it remains unclear whether the administration will appeal the ruling, issue only partial payments, or identify additional funds to cover the full month of benefits. He noted that the federal contingency fund holds roughly $5.5 billion — enough to cover only part of one month’s payments — and implementing any of those options for 42 million recipients could take time.

“So I think it’s a good sign that this judge is making clear that the Trump administration can and should use these contingency funds,” he said, “but it does not mean that suddenly a valve is turned on for tomorrow, unfortunately.”

Elzinga said food banks and pantries were seeing heavy traffic Friday. He urged Iowans with SNAP benefits remaining on their cards to continue using them and to hold onto their EBT cards and to check balances regularly in the coming days in case new or partial payments are issued. He also reminded recipients that Double Up Food Bucks can still be earned and redeemed in November to help stretch their food dollars.

“We'll need to wait and see when this will turn on SNAP benefits,” Elzinga said. “But there are still going to be a chunk of Iowans tomorrow who are not going to get their SNAP benefits.”

The process of reloading EBT cards typically takes one to two weeks.

Iowa's monthly SNAP benefits are approximately $45 million, serving around 131,000 households.

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‘We’re going to need a lot more support than that’

Before the judges’ rulings were issued Friday afternoon, Gov. Kim Reynolds held a press conference Friday morning to urge Iowans to support local food banks. On Thursday, she announced plans to mobilize state support in response to the disruption in SNAP benefits.

That support includes work by the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services and Volunteer Iowa to recruit and deploy volunteers to support food assistance operations across the state. In addition, the governor ordered the Iowa National Guard to prepare for state active duty.

Adjutant General Stephen Osborn of the Iowa National Guard, who spoke at the governor’s press conference Friday, said duties may include delivering food across the state, managing warehouses and food banks, and packaging boxes of food. Reynolds confirmed that Guard members will be paid for their work because it is considered a state mission.

Reynolds also announced a plan to use Iowa HHS funds to match monetary donations to Iowa’s six regional food banks, up to $1 million, starting Nov. 3.

“This is an opportunity for all of us together as Iowans, to care for our neighbors in need,” Reynolds told reporters during the Friday press conference. “Donate a cash donation to the food bank that serves your area, you can help a family near you keep food on the table. Better yet, your donation will go twice as far because the state will match it dollar for dollar.”

Reynolds' office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the Friday rulings and how they might impact the state's plans. Her announcement Thursday noted the donation match would only be available “if SNAP benefits are not federally funded during November due to the government shutdown.”

Elzinga said Reynolds’ plan to match donations helps, but he cautioned that that support alone won’t fill the gap.

“… $2 million is not going to make up for $45 million in lost SNAP benefits. We’re going to need a lot more support than that,” he said Friday.

‘We are still going to be filling the gap’

At the Hawkeye Area Community Action Program in Hiawatha — one of the six regional food banks in Iowa — spokesperson Christopher Ackman said the agency remains ready to help ensure local families can access food.

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“We’re encouraged by the recent ruling to pay SNAP benefits, as this support is critical for so many families across Eastern Iowa,” Ackman said. “While the details are still being finalized, HACAP’s Food Reservoir remains ready to help ensure that neighbors in our community have access to food.”

Leaders from multiple Johnson County food providers who met Friday morning for a press conference, before the ruling was announced, said the possibility of funds being released in November would be “the best case scenario,” but agreed that there still would be remaining concerns.

More than 10,000 people in Johnson County rely on SNAP for food. The program distributes $1.7 million in Johnson County each month, speakers said.

Ryan Markle, the food bank and financial services manager at CommUnity Crisis Services and Food Bank, said that CommUnity — which normally serves an average of 180 families per day — served 285 families on Thursday, and they’re expecting to see numbers continue to rise.

“This record-breaking period is just a stark preview of what is to come if SNAP benefits are not issued on time: long lines, an overextended workforce, and a depleted food supply. This is simply not sustainable,” Markle said.

Even with the court ruling Friday, food pantry leaders echoed those concerns.

“When are they going to release those funds? Is it going to be on the timeline that folks already expected? We are still going to be filling the gap,” said Nicki Ross, executive director at Table to Table.

“The statements from the administration are that the administrative burden to turn around and release these funds will be great and … take time, and yet, we’ve got people experiencing the emergency today,” Ryan Bobst, executive director of the North Liberty Community Pantry, added.

Republicans blame Democrats for shutdown, SNAP disruption

Congressional Republicans noted that benefits would be distributed if Senate Democrats would agree to pass a clean continuing resolution to reopen the government.

Senate Democrats have insisted that any government funding package include renewed subsidies under the Affordable Care Act because without those subsidies, millions of Americans will face steep premium hikes if the aid expires.

Blame over the cause of the federal government shutdown — and the disruption of SNAP benefits — continued Thursday and Friday.

“No Iowan should have to go hungry because of the Democrats’ dysfunction,” Iowa U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Marion, said in a statement. “Senate Democrats should vote to reopen the government so SNAP will be funded instead of using the most vulnerable as leverage."

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Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Ottumwa, said the Democrats "made the choice to shut down the government, fully aware that it would hurt millions of Americans, including Iowans who rely on SNAP to put food on the table."

"I voted to keep our government open and even introduced the Keep SNAP Funded Act to protect Iowa families during this shutdown," Miller-Meeks said in a statement. "Because I know this simple truth: neither Democrats or Republicans win a shutdown, but the American people lose."

Reynolds’ response to the impending disruption of SNAP benefits was criticized by Iowa state Democratic leaders Thursday, who sent a letter to Reynolds and Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, urging them to tap into state funds to help supplement SNAP aid.

In the letter, they requested that Reynolds authorize the use of interest dollars from the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund, which currently has a balance of $107 million in interest, to continue SNAP benefits for Iowans.

They argue that the state is sitting on these dollars that were “designed to lift Iowa’s communities and protect our most vulnerable during the pandemic.”

Reynolds, during her press conference, blamed congressional Democratic lawmakers for the disruption in SNAP benefits.

“Dems in the United States Senate don't seem to care that everyday Americans are suffering while they force the shutdown into another month, holding out for $1.5 trillion in spending in a spending bill to prop up the fundamentally flawed, 'Unaffordable Care Act,'” Reynolds said.

“My hope is that first of all, the Senate Democrats will stop keeping the government closed and open it back up and really start having those kind of conversations about what we do,” Reynolds told reporters.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.