By Leah Douglas
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A group representing mayors of more than 1,000 U.S. cities has urged the Agriculture Department to use emergency funds to pay for food assistance benefits threatened by the ongoing federal government shutdown.
Tens of millions of Americans might not receive food stamps and other food aid in November because the shutdown, now the second-longest in history, has kept Congress from funding the benefits.
The USDA should draw on its contingency fund for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and use any other available resources to pay for November benefits, the U.S. Conference of Mayors said in a letter to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on Thursday.
“SNAP is not only a federal nutrition program – it is a critical local economic stabilizer,” said the letter, signed by Matt Tuerk, the mayor of Allentown, Pennsylvania, and Tom Cochran, the organization’s CEO and executive director.
“When benefits are delayed or reduced, city economies absorb the shock through increased food insecurity, higher demand on emergency food providers, and additional strain on municipal budgets and public health systems,” the letter said.
The USDA has about $5 billion in SNAP contingency funds, about 60% of the cost of a month of benefits, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
The United States Conference of Mayors is a nonpartisan organization of more than 1,400 cities with populations of 30,000 or more.
A USDA spokesperson called the risk to benefits “an inflection point for Senate Democrats.” Democrats and Republicans have traded blame for the shutdown. Democrats have voted against a spending bill in an effort to keep healthcare costs lower for many Americans.
The letter was also sent to congressional leadership and members of the House Agriculture Committee, though it did not call for specific action from Congress.
More than 41 million people participate in SNAP. Nearly 7 million people are also at risk of losing their November benefits from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, known as WIC.
(Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
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