COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCSC) – By the end of this week, tens of millions of Americans could go hungry if Congress does not reopen the federal government or take action to fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
SNAP, which used to be called the food stamps program, helps put food on the table in more than 260,000 South Carolina homes each month, but the US Department of Agriculture has warned there is not enough money to fund it into November without Congressional action, so benefits would be cut off by the end of the week.
While SNAP is managed by individual states, it is fully funded by the federal government, so the state does not deal with the money that pays to feed around 560,000 South Carolinians every month.
SNAP recipient households in South Carolina receive an average of $384 each month, and about half of those recipients are children, while about one in five is older than 50.
In a new memo sent to states, the USDA has now said it will not tap into its contingency fund to pay for SNAP next month, and if states were to tap into their own reserves to cover the cost — about $104 million in South Carolina last month — they would not be reimbursed.
Meg Stanley, executive director of the South Carolina nonprofit Wholespire, said that means the hands of the Department of Social Services, which oversees SNAP in the state, are tied.
But Stanley said there are other actions the state can and should take to help its people.
“Thinking about how we can further support our food banks and pantries and what the state could do and how the Department of Agriculture can really try to focus in on some of the bulk buying options and commodity options for the food banks,” Stanley said.
Stanley said a shutoff of SNAP services could be detrimental not just to South Carolinians’ health but also to public safety and the economy.
She noted some stores rely on SNAP money for a significant portion of their sales, and many already operate on tight margins as it is.
“That would be catastrophic if they have to close because of something like this, and that could then create more food deserts,” Stanley said.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have called on South Carolina’s governor to act, ranging from asking him to lift restrictions on food bank donations, to declaring a state of emergency, to calling the General Assembly into a special session — the last an action the governor cannot take.
Gov. Henry McMaster will hold a news conference Tuesday morning with community and state agency leaders to announce a new effort to assist food banks and feeding organizations through a “coordinated charitable giving campaign.”
On Monday, the state’s four major food banks called on state and federal officials to end the shutdown and invest more in hunger relief programs, warning they alone cannot fill the gap for feeding South Carolinians who may lose SNAP benefits.
USDA won’t reimburse states that fund November SNAP benefits
