Food assistance to the 30% of Philadelphians enrolled in the Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program could be cut off due to the ongoing federal government shutdown, state officials said this week.
Barring immediate action to fund SNAP, previously known as food stamps, payments will not be made for the month of November to nearly 2 million Pennsylvanians, including the around 472,000 city residents signed up for benefits, according to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration.
Though operated at the state level through electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards, SNAP is 100% federally funded, officials noted.
“The Commonwealth cannot backfill these costs,” the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services said in a news release Monday evening.
Administrators from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service informed states in an Oct. 10 letter that “there will be insufficient funds to pay full November SNAP benefits for approximately 42 million individuals across the Nation.” Regional SNAP directors were told to delay benefits “until further notice.”
Pennsylvania typically distributes more than $366 million every month through the program; DHS data from December 2024 indicates that about $100 million flows to households in Philadelphia.
An alert on the state’s SNAP website informs the public of a pause in benefits beginning Oct. 16 “because Republicans in Washington D.C., failed to pass a federal budget, causing the federal government shutdown.”
The Pennsylvania GOP, in a social media post, questioned whether the notice was on “an official government website or a Democrat campaign page” and called on the Shapiro administration to apologize and issue a correction.
A warning on the USDA’s SNAP page characterizes the fiscal impasse as “the Radical Left Democrat shutdown.”
State DHS representatives noted that SNAP beneficiaries can continue to use their EBT funds from October, along with any dollars carried over prior months. Benefits do not expire within the calendar year.
Those enrolled in the program are also being advised to continue completing renewals and reporting any changes in income, contact information and the people living with them, along with complying with new work requirements “to not risk an interruption of their benefits in the future,” DHS said in a statement.
The work mandates, which were incorporated into President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” are set to expand Nov. 1. The Shapiro administration has projected that nearly 144,000 Pennsylvanians could lose access to their benefits due to the new requirements.
Officials in Harrisburg are encouraging individuals to support local food banks, which are expected to encounter high demand if SNAP benefits are suspended for November.
Pantries and other organizations will likely be unable to meet that need; SNAP provides nine meals for every meal offered through charitable groups in Pennsylvania, according to DHS.
