Officials vote to provide $1 million per week to Oklahoma food banks until SNAP is funded

OKLAHOMA CITY — State officials voted Monday to send Oklahoma food banks $1 million a week if federal food assistance programs continue to lack funding during the government shutdown.

The Contingency Review Board, whose voting members include Gov. Kevin Stitt, Senate President Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, and House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, unanimously approved the plan. The funding is approved for up to seven weeks, drawing from a state emergency fund that has a $7.8 million balance. The expenditure is contingent on a continued lack of federal funding.

Funds will be administered to Oklahoma food banks through the state Department of Human Services. Two-thirds will be sent to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, which serves 53 counties in western and central Oklahoma, and the rest will go to the Eastern Food Bank of Oklahoma, which serves the rest of the state.

The funding will only be distributed if money provided the previous week has been expended and it can only serve SNAP recipients.

The panel also approved a $72,000 appropriation to upgrade software systems to allow state funds to be deposited onto SNAP recipients’ EBT cards. Officials said they want the ability to do this if it’s needed in the future.

The panel’s vote comes as the Trump administration said Monday that it would partially fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which provides benefits to 42 million Americans using a $4.65 billion contingency fund. The administration warned though that it could take months for the benefits to reach recipients, which include over 680,000 Oklahomans.

Two federal judges ordered Friday that the Trump administration must continue administering the program, also known as food stamps amid the ongoing federal government shutdown, which has entered its second month.

Stitt said state officials will continue to “monitor” when the state’s savings account might be used. If the shutdown persists until Dec. 1, more federal programs like Medicaid, child care and the military will be affected, he said.

“Over the next couple of weeks, I think it’ll be clear if we need to do something like that,” Stitt said. “… You saw the Trump administration released today that 50% of the money would be to fund, which we still are waiting on guidance. We don’t know if that’s just going to be added to a card. We don’t know if it’s going to be prioritized to certain individuals. We just don’t know yet.”

Stitt, Hilbert and Paxton all again called on Congress to end the shutdown.

Following Monday’s vote, Oklahoma Democrats said this action wasn’t enough and doubled down on their call for a special session to tap into the state’s savings, which has about $1.3 billion. State law limits its use and how much can be spent from the fund.

The Oklahoma Department of Human Services, which administers SNAP, did not answer questions Monday afternoon about how long it would take for funding to be restored and what the average cut would likely be to Oklahomans.

“At this time, Oklahoma Human Services is awaiting updated guidance from our federal partners at USDA,” the agency said in a statement in response. “While we await further instruction, we remain focused on doing everything we can to preserve critical services and supports for Oklahomans who rely on them.”

The state leaders have also called on Oklahomans, nonprofits and food banks to step in to fill the gap in services while the federal government is shut down.

It will cost the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma and the Eastern Food Bank of Oklahoma $5.5 million each per month to double their efforts, which officials said will not be enough as the groups only provide one meal for every nine that SNAP does.

The federal government has been shut down since Oct. 1 because Congress has failed to find a bipartisan path forward on a stopgap spending bill by the start of the federal fiscal year. A Republican proposal seeks to temporarily keep the government open through Nov. 21. Democrats back a separate plan to permanently restore health subsidies for those who buy health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace.

Oklahoma Voice (oklahomavoice.com) is an affiliate of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization, supported by grants and donations. Oklahoma Voice provides nonpartisan reporting, and retains full editorial independence.