PHOENIX – Attorney General Kris Mayes issued the following statement after a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts issued an order finding that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) must use its Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) contingency funds to fund the program during the ongoing federal government shutdown. The Court also found that if the contingency fund cannot fully fund the program in November, then the federal government must consider other, additional funding sources. USDA has until the end of the day on Monday to let the Court know whether it will fully or partially fund the SNAP program.
“In the lawsuit I filed to protect SNAP for 900,000 Arizonans — including 1 in 4 Arizona kids— the court ruled the Trump administration acted illegally by trying to cut off access to food benefits even though there are emergency funds available,” said Attorney General Mayes. “USDA must come up with a plan to pay benefits by Monday. We’ll keep fighting to protect Arizonans.”
The order comes after Attorney General Mayes joined a coalition of 26 states in suing the Trump Administration for suspending SNAP benefits in a manner that is both contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act. Today’s order makes clear that USDA must use contingency funds to pay for SNAP benefits. The federal Administration has indicated that the funds will not be enough to cover the cost of November SNAP for all 50 states, and the order puts the ball in the federal government’s court. The federal government must tell the Court by Monday, November 3, whether it will utilize other funding sources beyond the SNAP contingency fund to ensure that 42 million Americans do not risk going hungry in November.
- In Arizona, 12% of the state’s population receives SNAP benefits, including 30,000 Arizona veterans.
- That means nearly 900,000 Arizonans rely on SNAP benefits to help feed themselves and their families.
- Most of these families would be out around $360, the average amount Arizona households using SNAP benefits were able to spend on groceries that month.
- 1 in 4 children in Arizona rely on SNAP benefits– in fact 40% of SNAP funding in Arizona goes to feeding children.
- For every meal that a food pantry provides, SNAP provides 9.
- The economy is going to take a big hit without SNAP funding as well. Data has shown that in a weak economy, $1 of SNAP benefits increases economic activity and growth by $1.5 to $1.8.
- Over 4,600 Arizona retailers are approved to accept EBT cards and could lose revenue.
This lawsuit was brought with the assistance of the Arizona Department of Economic Security.