Maryland resumes administering SNAP benefits with help from state funds
Maryland resumed administering Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits on Tuesday with help from state funds, leaders confirmed.
It comes almost a week after benefits lapsed due to the ongoing government shutdown, and after a judge directed the Trump administration to fund the program.
Several other states began issuing monthly benefits last week. Shortly after, the Trump administration told states to "undo any steps" taken to provide full benefits, saying they were "unauthorized."
"As the federal government votes to reopen, the Maryland Department of Human Services will urgently continue to issue SNAP benefits as full federal funds become available," a spokesperson for the governor's office told WJZ.
Funding SNAP benefits in Maryland
Nearly 680,000 Maryland residents rely on SNAP benefits, according to Gov. Wes Moore's Office.
As benefits were set to lapse on Nov. 1, the governor declared a State of Emergency, allowing for $10 million to be distributed to food banks and other organizations.
During the first week of November, Maryland leaders announced that the state would fill the funding gap through the rest of the month, committing more than $60 million to the program.
SNAP uncertainty
The lapse in SNAP benefits and the ensuing legal back and forth left many of the program's 42 million recipients in limbo, uncertain about how they would pay for groceries.
In Maryland, local farmers and the State Department of Agriculture took action to ensure residents got the food they needed by launching a "bridge program" that allowed SNAP recipients to shop at farmers markets.
Under the program, residents with SNAP/EBT cards got $20 in market tokens, even if their card had a zero balance. The tokens, which came from the Maryland Market Money Program, also offered SNAP recipients $20 in tokens per household, per day.
