With just days to go until SNAP benefits are due to stop because of the federal government shutdown, Virginia state leaders are stepping in to help.
Tuesday afternoon, Gov. Glenn Youngkin outlined a new emergency food assistance program that would bridge the gap.
The Virginia Emergency Nutrition Assistance program, or VENA, would begin if the government shutdown is not resolved before Saturday, Nov. 1. This follows his declaration of a state of emergency on the issue last week.
He compared it to building an airplane while it was taking off, saying it has taken a lot of coordination among state officials to get it going.
The commonwealth can’t directly fund SNAP, so it had to build a new system.
Those who received benefits in October will receive them in November. They will be paid out weekly on existing cards instead of monthly.
“We will be doing it every week for as long as we can,” Youngkin said. “Every week means that we will be moving funds from the state surplus. To fund these parallel benefits every week, it totals $37.5 million, roughly.”
There will be a small gap, however, as the first set of benefits would not be paid out until Monday, Nov. 3.
“I fully understand not just the disruption, but the hardship that the delay in two days from Saturday to Monday will cause, and that delay from Tuesday to Wednesday will cause. And I reiterate, it is so much more than a disruption, it’s a hardship,” Youngkin said.
As part of his emergency declaration, the governor is also directing that $1 million be distributed to the Virginia food bank network by this weekend.
Youngkin again took aim at Senate Democrats in Congress for their refusal to vote to reopen the government.
Democratic lieutenant governor candidate and State Sen. Ghazala Hashmi was in Roanoke Tuesday, meeting with unions and the Local Office on Aging for discussions on SNAP, the government shutdown, and budget cuts.
She told 10 News she wants more details on the governor’s plan.
“It’s not clear to me exactly what it’s going to look like, how the rollout is going to be and whether it’s going to cover the needs and for how long for the population that is served by SNAP benefits,” she said. “And so having greater clarity around that is important, but what we know is that the state cannot fill that gap entirely. And so being able to develop a stronger and more comprehensive plan in response to the federal cuts is a necessary and important step.”
The governor’s office said the effort will continue at least through November but would end as soon as SNAP benefits on the federal level are restored.
More information on the program will be posted here.