The Washington, D.C. Council is taking steps to file a lawsuit against Mayor Muriel Bowser over withholding increases to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, filing an emergency resolution on Tuesday.
Council Chairman Phil Mendelson circulated the SNAP Litigation Authorization Resolution on Tuesday morning, which allows the council to discuss taking Bowser to court over the withheld allotments — with the plan to take the measure up next Tuesday, according to the resolution obtained by Fox 5 DC.
FOOD STAMPS: MICHIGAN JANUARY SNAP BENEFITS WORTH UP TO $1,751 ARRIVE TOMORROW
“I filed the notice for next week’s meeting, as only the council can authorize legal action,” Mendelson said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “I am hopeful that this won’t be necessary and have scheduled a meeting with the mayor for next Monday. But I have to take the steps necessary to protect the council’s legislative authority. The enhanced SNAP benefits are a matter of law. The executive has no discretion in the matter.”
#BREAKING it appears the @councilofdc is now looking to take @MayorBowser to court for withholding a SNAP benefit increase.
Told @ChmnMendelson circulated an emergency resolution this AM that would allow the council’s general council to do such, planning to take up next Tues pic.twitter.com/O167iYwVJU — Stephanie Ramirez (@RamirezReports) January 2, 2024
This comes after the D.C. attorney general’s office released an opinion memo last week stating that Bowser’s administration cannot withhold additional SNAP allocations and must follow the law to boost benefits in January.
Recipients should still expect their regular allotment of SNAP but were supposed to receive a boost from January 2024 to September 2024 thanks to the “Give SNAP a Raise” bill. It was passed in December 2022 but was not funded by the council until earlier this year. Under the bill, SNAP recipients would collect a 10% enhancement to their monthly payments, or an additional $47 per month, on average.
However, Bowser has refused to enhance aid, citing budgeting and staffing constraints.
“The Council’s position (supported by an opinion by the Attorney General) is that the Mayor may not unilaterally divert or withhold funds appropriated for a purpose expressly established in an appropriations act,” Mendelson wrote to his fellow council members. “As such, the proposed SNAP Litigation Authorization Resolution of 2024 authorizes our General Counsel to initiate or otherwise participate in a lawsuit on behalf of the Council to assert the requirement to disburse the funds as appropriated by the Council.”
Several council members have written public letters criticizing Bowser’s decision to withhold the additional funds.
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“I am exceptionally frustrated by the Mayor’s choice,” At-Large Councilwoman Christina Henderson, who led the “Give SNAP a Raise” bill, said in her public letter. “The Executive has chronically underfunded public benefit enrollment and allotments, and now they claim that they cannot implement Give SNAP a Raise because of spending pressures that they have created.”
Bowser’s office said in a statement to the Washington Examiner that the mayor has funded and implemented “a multitude of programs designed to put cash in people’s pockets while also putting them on the road to a good paying job and affordable housing.”
“The Department of Human Services currently provides more than 83,000 DC households with SNAP benefits,” the mayor’s office said. “With significant fiscal and human resources pressures in our human services cluster, it’s not prudent to increase spending on one program, especially when demand for other programs that support the same people is increasing beyond our current budget.”
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“As our budgets tighten, we have a responsibility to first fund and sustain critical housing, shelter, and the cash and food assistance benefits already in place,” the mayor’s office added.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Henderson for comment.
DC Council takes steps to sue Mayor Muriel Bowser over withheld SNAP allotments
