Michigan lawmakers weigh intervening as food assistance cutoff looms

Originally Posted in The Detroit News by Craig Mauger, Anne Snabes and Beth LeBlanc

Democrats who control the state Senate said Wednesday they are exploring the possibility of intervening and attempting to prevent about 1.4 million Michigan residents from losing access to food aid, beginning this weekend, amid the federal government shutdown.

But the lawmakers’ efforts, which could include allocating about $250 million to fund Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits in the state for a month, face a difficult and uncertain road in the narrowly divided Legislature.

It’s unclear whether there would be enough votes to pass a bill in the Democratic-controlled Senate. Plus, Republicans have a majority of the seats in the House, which would also have to support such a measure for it to become law.

On Wednesday, state Sen. Kevin Hertel, D-St. Clair Shores, said he would support finding a way to keep SNAP aid going in Michigan and help food banks meet the need that the looming loss of food assistance is already creating.

“We have to do everything we can to help,” Hertel said.

Last week, state officials announced that food benefits for 1.4 million Michiganians would be delayed in November due to insufficient funding during the federal shutdown. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, within Republican President Donald Trump’s administration, previously said 42 million people across the country “will not receive their SNAP benefits come Nov. 1.”

In one statement, the USDA blamed congressional Democrats for “blocking government funding” and specifically said there was no provision that allowed for the states to cover benefits costs and later be reimbursed.

But on Wednesday, Sen. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor, said the Trump administration is using hungry people as leverage in the shutdown fight.

Irwin said he would support allocating money from the state’s $2.2 billion rainy day fund to provide a “lifeline” to Michiganians who depend on their monthly SNAP benefits, formerly known as food stamps.

State legislators could provide a temporary “bridge” that covers costs until federal lawmakers agree to a funding plan to reopen the federal government, Irwin said.

“What matters in the near term is making sure that we feed hungry people and that we make sure that kids don’t go hungry and that we don’t suffer the unnecessary economic damage that this disruption will cause for the 1.4 million who rely on SNAP and the other 8.6 million of us who also benefit,” Irwin said.

The average low-income household in Michigan received $335 in SNAP benefits per month last year on prepaid cards to defray their grocery bills. Individuals averaged $173 per month, according to state data.

Natasha Bell, 42, a resident of downtown Detroit, uses SNAP assistance to buy food from various grocery stores. When asked Wednesday about the federal government shutdown potentially halting food assistance, she said officials just need to “get it together.”

“People shouldn’t starve over … politics, that’s for sure,” Bell said.

Questions remain

But even supporters of the idea of the state Legislature intervening acknowledged that such a move still poses significant risks. It is possible that Trump himself would change his mind on the SNAP cutoff in the coming days, Irwin said.

It’s also unclear how long the federal government shutdown, which began on Oct. 1, will last, and Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Sarah Anthony, D-Lansing, said the state doesn’t have the money available to fund SNAP benefits over the long term.

In addition, state lawmakers aren’t sure how many other shutdowns or crises could loom in the coming years, meaning that if rainy-day dollars are used now, they won’t be available later during an economic recession.

“What’s next?” Anthony asked. “It’s food today. What is the next thing we’re going to have to brace for?”

State Sen. Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak, who’s running for the U.S. Senate next year, said it would take anywhere from $200 million to $300 million to fund SNAP benefits in Michigan for a month.

“I want us to figure out what we can do,” McMorrow said. “But anything that we can do on the state level is going to be really short-term.”

House Appropriations Chairwoman Ann Bollin, R-Brighton Township, said lawmakers are exploring other potential avenues to meet the needs of the 1.4 million Michigan residents on food assistance.

As things stand, the state has been informed it will not be reimbursed if it advances money to supplement the SNAP program, Bollin said.

In the Senate on Wednesday, Democrats and Republicans debated for roughly an hour over a non-binding resolution urging the Trump administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to release SNAP benefits.

Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, the Grand Rapids Democrat who sponsored the resolution, said she benefited from social programs like SNAP when her father passed away unexpectedly when she was 6, leaving her mother with five children to raise on a dairy farm.

“The most basic, simple safety net provided by government programs made it possible for my family not just to survive, but to thrive,” Brinks said.

Senate Republicans opposed the resolution, arguing it was overly political because it blamed only the Trump administration and Republican officials for the cuts, without mentioning Democrats’ repeated votes against a government funding bill.

Democrats in Congress have said they’re holding out for a vote on extending health insurance tax credits set to expire at year’s end, which is projected to lead to double-digit premium increases for individual insurance plans.

“This resolution before us would be laughable if it wasn’t so ridiculous,” said Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, R-Porter Township. “Democrats demanding to fix a problem that Democrats created in Washington, D.C.?”

Consideration of the resolution was postponed for the day because Senate Democrats did not have the 19 members present needed to pass the measure without help from the Republicans.

Michigan House Democrats said Tuesday they were planning to introduce legislation that would set aside roughly $600 million from the state’s coffers to supplement SNAP benefits for the next two months.

Additional legislation would release $12.5 million in state tax dollars to both the Food Bank Council of America and other food pantry programs.

The effects of the SNAP cutoff are real and will be felt across Michigan, in urban and rural areas alike, said state Rep. Betsy Coffia, D-Traverse City.

“Seniors, people with disabilities, veterans and families … are not going to have food in their SNAP benefits this Saturday, and it’s not because we don’t have the money,” Coffia said. “This administration and the Washington Republicans just approved a $40 billion bailout to Argentina while they’re agreeing to some sort of hunger games for 40 million Americans who depend on SNAP benefits.”

Increased demand

Food distribution charities in Michigan were already reporting increased demand for food almost a week after officials said SNAP food benefits would end Saturday because of the federal shutdown.

Brother Fred Cabras, the director of social services for the Capuchin Soup Kitchen in Detroit, said his organization has seen an increase in calls from community members.

The food pantry at the Capuchin Services Center normally sees higher demand at the end of the month, because people receive SNAP benefits at the beginning of the month, and some need more food in the second half of the month, he said. But this late October has been busier than a typical end of the month for the Capuchin Services Center, Cabras said.

Cabras said he thinks people are worried they won’t get SNAP benefits in November, so “let’s get food now.” He also said they’re worried that food from pantries may not be available come mid-November.

“Where are the food pantries going to be standing where there’s a half a million or a million people looking for food? Are the food pantries going to be able to sustain it?” Cabras said. “And some food pantries will. Some food pantries won’t.”

The Capuchin Services Center is funded through philanthropy and doesn’t receive government funding.
Cabras said he thinks his organization can handle the increased demand for a month or two, but eventually, “stuff is just going to run out.”

He said he and other organizations participated in a Zoom call that the Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan organized Wednesday afternoon about SNAP and other federal benefits.

“I think there’s a lot of worry and there’s a lot of fear, and the pantries are like, ‘What are we gonna do?’… And so there’s a lot of fear around it,” he said.

Aid shortage is ‘bad timing’

Mariah Cuevas, 31, got food for her and her two daughters Wednesday afternoon from the Capuchin Services Center, including chicken noodle soup (which her daughter loves), pancake mix, vegetables and other items.

Cuevas, who lives in Detroit’s Mexicantown neighborhood, visited the pantry because of the potential suspension of SNAP benefits. She said she’s trying to stock up on canned goods and other items in case Bridge Cards aren’t reloaded next month.

She said she is worried about her “kids eating for the next couple of months,” especially as winter nears.
“There’s a lot of worries, I guess, coming up. Bad timing. Thanksgiving’s already probably ruined,” Cuevas said.

Bell said the halting of SNAP benefits is “a bummer.”

The Detroit woman said she comes to the Capuchin Services Center around three times a year, and she has never seen the pantry’s shelves as empty as they were on Wednesday. Bell said she has cancer and can’t work.

“So with that, I have to come here and stock up on things, because if my food assistance is taken away, how can I provide for my children or my grandbabies that’s looking forward to sitting down, having a nice Thanksgiving dinner with their grandmother?” she said.

Christopher Ivey, a spokesperson for Forgotten Harvest, said the food rescue organization is preparing for a potential rise in need across Metro Detroit, especially in communities where federal employees are also missing paychecks.

“We remain hopeful that Washington will act quickly to resolve these hardships and restore benefits as soon as possible, and we’re monitoring developments closely to understand and respond to changes in real time,” Ivey said.

Forgotten Harvest will “continue doing everything we can” with the resources it has, he said. Its network of more than 220 pantry partners is distributing food throughout the Metro Detroit area, and it will continue to support these partners “to the best of our ability,” Ivey said.

Will nonprofit need to buy food?

Forgotten Harvest might soon reach a point where it needs to purchase food, something it doesn’t typically do, he said.

“Even before the USDA cuts, government shutdowns and SNAP cuts, we were already struggling to meet the growing need in our community,” Ivey said. “We are ready and committed to helping, but the loss of SNAP benefits cannot be fully replaced by charitable organizations like ours.”

The Gleaners Community Food Bank is getting more requests for information about how to get food support and is starting to “see more participation” at community mobile food distributions, Gleaners spokeswoman Kristin Sokul said Wednesday.

She did not specify how much of an increase the nonprofit has experienced since last Thursday’s announcement that SNAP food benefits would lapse on Saturday.

“We remain focused on increasing food purchases where necessary, increasing volunteer shifts to support more box builds, and looking at where hot spots may be to respond with mobiles,” Sokul said in a statement.

The increase in demand is coming during a season when food demand traditionally increases, according to Forgotten Harvest.

“The elimination of SNAP benefits and a 26% in food prices since 2020 will cause these numbers to increase even more. This demand and uncertainty of where the additional support will come from will cause extra stress and concern to those already suffering from food insecurity,” a Forgotten Harvest spokesperson said Wednesday.

“Forgotten Harvest cannot fill the gap left by the elimination of SNAP. We are just a supplemental portion of the overall system.