Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry has declared a state of emergency to fund what is still known to many as food stamps, as the federal government shutdown continues. As Louisiana Public Radio and nonprofit Louisiana Illuminator report, due to the federal government shutdown holding up funds, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) does not have enough money to issue Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits next month. In all, SNAP provides food assistance to roughly 42 million people across the country.
In Louisiana, 793,000 people receive SNAP benefits, according to the Landry administration, which accounts for 17% of the state’s total population of 4.65 million. In his declaration, Gov. Landry asked the state legislature to authorize money from a state reserve fund to subsidize SNAP benefits from November 1-4; and only to children, the elderly and people with disabilities. The Louisiana state legislature — which is now in the midst of an unrelated special session - is voting on the governor’s request. The motion needs a two-thirds majority in the House and Senate to pass. The measure has passed the House unanimously and now goes to the Senate.
Arkansas
More than 400,000 people in Arkansas, about 13% of the state’s population relied on SNAP benefits in 2023 according to USDA figures. The government agency also states that Arkansas’ rate of food insecurity of just under 19% is the highest in the country.
Yet, despite those figures, Arkansas continues its steady decline in the number of recipients who actually receive food assistance during the past decade. For example Arkansas’ poverty rate rose to 15.7%, while at the same time more than 60,000 people in Arkansas lost food benefits.
As Little Rock Public Radio reports, Arkansas Food Bank CEO Brian Burton says more people are relying on food banks just to get by. “Now federal employees, contractors, and even some military families, who’ve never needed help before, solid middle class people, are turning to food banks for the first time.”Jeff Quick is the CEO of the North Central Arkansas Food Bank. He says they’re also seeing increased calls in traffic. Quick says community support will be critical in the coming months. “I think the realization is starting to set in that this November 1st deadline is real and that we might actually see some increased numbers of people in need.” After 30 years of releasing its annual Household Food Security report series, through the USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS), the Trump administration announced in September it will stop tracking food insecurity. The decision was swiftly condemned by the anti-hunger movement. A USDA news release stated, “These redundant, costly, politicized, and extraneous studies do nothing more than fear-monger.”
The statement goes on to add “For 30 years, this study – initially created in the Clinton administration as a means to support the increase of SNAP eligibility and benefit allotments – failed to present anything more than subjective, liberal fodder.”
The final report for food insecurity showed 13.5% of U.S. households were food insecure at the end of 2023.
