More than 63,000 low-income Vermonters could see their federal food benefits disappear next month if the government shutdown lasts through October.
The Trump administration recently notified state officials that there won鈥檛 be enough money to fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program if Congress doesn鈥檛 pass a continuing resolution by month鈥檚 end.
Though the Vermont Legislature passed a state budget in May that set aside about $100 million to offset potential federal funding losses, Secretary of Human Services Jenney Samuelson told lawmakers Thursday that the state might not be able to leverage those reserves.
鈥淲e have been exploring what it would look like to potentially backfill the program with state funds in the interim basis, but 鈥� it looks like the federal contingency plan may make that impossible,鈥� she said.
Impossible, Samuelson said, because the U.S. Department of Agriculture told her agency Thursday that it might temporarily shut down the system that allows funds to be deposited on SNAP recipients鈥� electronic benefits cards.
EBT cards don鈥檛 function in retail settings, according to Samuelson, unless the federal government releases data to a national vendor on which the EBT payment system relies.
鈥淭hey are not going to be releasing that data,鈥� she told lawmakers. 鈥淎nd so if that happens, it could mean that the cards that our Vermont residents use are no longer functional beginning Nov. 1.鈥�
Samuelson said her office is trying to get answers to key questions that will determine the state鈥檚 ability to intervene. But she said, "It鈥檚 very difficult to get clarification from the federal government.鈥�
鈥淲e don鈥檛 know whether the benefit鈥檚 going to be turned off. We don鈥檛 know if the cards are going to work,鈥� Samuelson said. 鈥淭here may be options we can deploy, we just haven鈥檛 had enough time to explore what those are.鈥�
鈥淲e don鈥檛 know whether the benefit鈥檚 going to be turned off. We don鈥檛 know if the cards are going to work. There may be options we can deploy, we just haven鈥檛 had enough time to explore what those are.鈥�Vermont Human Services Secretary Jenney Samuelson
SNAP benefits aren鈥檛 the only strands of the social safety net in jeopardy as the federal shutdown entered its 16th day Thursday. Vermont has yet to receive the $22.5 million in federal funds that it was expecting for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. Also unclear, according to state officials, is whether Vermont will get the $4 million it needs to maintain Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, which funds Reach Up, among other programs.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of unknown right now that we鈥檙e trying to navigate in partnership with you that is uncomfortable for everybody,鈥� Administration Secretary Sarah Clark . 鈥淎nd my mantra is trying to get as comfortable as I can in the discomfort because that鈥檚 a constant right now.鈥�
Also unknown, Clark said, is whether the Trump administration will reimburse Vermont for any state money it uses to maintain programs when federal funding lapses.
Lawmakers pressed Samuelson on Thursday to share contingency plans being prepared by the administration of Republican Gov. Phil Scott, in the event that food and fuel assistance is temporarily halted come November. Samuelson declined, saying the administration was still developing those plans.
Lawmakers, however, appear inclined to use state funding to backfill at least a portion of shutdown-related funding losses.
Washington County Sen. Andrew Perchlik, the Democratic chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said he鈥檚 concerned about a 鈥渘ightmare scenario鈥� in which SNAP beneficiaries try to purchase groceries on Nov. 1 and realize for the first time that their benefits have been halted.
He said he鈥檚 equally concerned about lack of fuel benefits for low-income families that are banking on the arrival of assistance early next month to fill their heating fuel tanks before a hard freeze sets in.
鈥淵ou could have people鈥檚 pipes freezing and then their house becomes unlivable and they鈥檙e homeless,鈥� Perchlik said. 鈥淭his is the kind of situation that we were anticipating when we set money aside, so we should be using that reserve money. I think we should do it now.鈥�
The 10-person Joint Fiscal Committee doesn鈥檛 have the spending authority to allocate that money. But the Emergency Board, which consists of four lawmakers and the governor, does. Perchlik said he鈥檇 be reaching out to Emergency Board members Thursday evening in hopes of convening a meeting within the next two weeks.
鈥淲e know we need to have the Emergency Board meet, because the E-Board does have the authority to move some of that money,鈥� he said.
