A shopper in a grocery store purchases lunchmeat.
Note: This story is republished from LevittownNow.com with permission.
The roughly 1.8 million Pennsylvanians who depend on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits will see an early payment.
The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services announced Monday that February benefits for recipients will be loaded onto electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards this Friday and will be available for use by Saturday.
SNAP is a federally-funded nutrition assistance program providing benefits to eligible low or no-income individuals and families in order for them to be able to purchase food.
The early payment follows word from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that the early payment will be the only one to SNAP recipients in February. Recipients will be notified that their February payment will arrive weeks early via a letter and email sent by the federal government.
“SNAP is the nation’s most important anti-hunger program. Without it, 1.8 million Pennsylvanians would have greater trouble affording food for themselves and their families,” said Pennsylvania Department of Human Services Secretary Miller. “This early payment allows us to get SNAP recipients their benefits for February, but they will have to make this payment last for an undefined period as the shutdown continues.”
If the partial government shutdown continues, state officials said SNAP payments beyond February will be determined based on USDA funds that are available.
“The partial federal government shutdown has real implications for millions of people in Pennsylvania and around the country who use SNAP to keep food on the table,” said Miller.
The state will continue to process benefit applications throughout the shutdown and recipients should report changes and reviews and renewals.
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