New York Declares Emergency Allocating $65M to Food Aid Amid Federal Shutdown

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency and authorized $65 million in state funds to shore up food banks, pantries and soup kitchens as federal SNAP benefits are set to lapse on Nov. 1 amid the federal government shutdown, a cutoff that would affect roughly 3 million New Yorkers. The infusion includes $40 million for the Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program and $25 million for Nourish NY, aims to provide about 40 million meals, and will be supplemented by Empire State Service Corps personnel; the new allocation brings New York’s total SNAP-response spending to about $106 million after prior investments. New York and dozens of other states have sued and urged the USDA to release contingency funds, while the federal administration says SNAP cannot continue without new congressional appropriations and blames congressional Democrats for the shutdown. Hochul warned the pause would create an unprecedented public-health and economic crisis for families, grocers, bodegas and farmers, and other states including Oregon and Virginia have issued similar emergency measures as SNAP for roughly 42 million Americans is threatened.