The partial emergency funding for the federal food aid program affects 77,000 low-income Montanans.
By Mara Silvers MONTANA FREE PRESS
Montana SNAP users may see some financial aid for groceries on their electronic benefits cards this month — but “far less” than they might expect, advocates say, and probably not right away.
The latest announcement about the SNAP program, officially known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, came days after federal courts ordered the administration of President Donald Trump to use emergency funds to backfill the food aid program during the federal government shutdown.
In the Tuesday guidance, U.S. Department of Agriculture officials informed states that the maximum allocations for the households enrolled in the food assistance program would be cut in half for November. In a previous court declaration, a top USDA official said that the reduced percentage would use all of the $4.65 billion in contingency funds for the program.
According to additional guidance distributed by USDA, a household of two people in most states, including Montana, would be eligible for — at most — a reduced allocation of $273 for the month of November. A household of four people, for example, would be eligible for the upper limit of $497.
A spokesperson for the Montana Food Bank Network said Tuesday that many Montana SNAP recipients would probably receive significantly less than those amounts when benefits are eventually distributed, citing the reductions in assistance that come from having any form of income.
“The majority of Montanans do have income, so they’re not getting that maximum benefit amount,” said Kiera Condon, advocacy specialist with the food bank network.
Condon added that the situation was “very fluid” and that the organization did not have clarity on when emergency benefits would be distributed. Guidance from the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services posted on the agency’s website Tuesday also did not specify when the benefits would become available.
“You can expect to see the funds on your EBT card in the coming weeks,” the state health department notice said, noting that the funds would be able to be used for routine food purchases as usual.
“Please note that the Public Assistance Helpline and [Office of Public Assistance] offices are currently unable to provide additional information beyond what is included in this notice,” the notice continued, pointing users to the official state health department website for future notices and updates.
A spokesperson for the department, Jon Ebelt, did not answer additional questions from Montana Free Press on Tuesday about a more exact timeline for benefits distribution.
The disruption of food benefits — typically scheduled to be loaded onto Montanans’ EBT cards during the first week of the month — has scrambled many families’ food budgets and put additional strain on community groups and food banks working to fill the gaps to prevent people from going hungry. The Montana Foodbank Network, which helps distribute food to more than 300 sites around Montana, previously described the disruption of SNAP benefits on Nov. 1 as forcing the state into “a statewide hunger crisis.”
Gov. Greg Gianforte, a Republican, said in October that he would not use state funds to backfill the food program, directing responsibility to Congress and, specifically, minority-party Democrats in Washington, D.C., who are withholding support for a budget resolution in an attempt to negotiate funding for enhanced subsidies for people who purchase insurance plans through the Affordable Care Act marketplace.
The delay in food assistance has prompted some tribal nations in Montana to declare states of emergency and draw on tribal resources. In a statement dated Monday and posted to Facebook, newly elected Chairman Floyd Azure of the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes said that the tribal government in northeast Montana was “actively developing a plan of action to address this issue until benefits are reinstated,” including “slaughtering buffalo, securing groceries” and allocated additional funds to enrolled tribal members who reside on the reservation and are signed up for SNAP benefits.
“We encourage everyone to come together as a community during these uncertain times and support one another,” Azure said, directing donations of nonperishable food items to go to established tribal services sites during business hours.
In a statement to Montana Public Radio following the federal court orders about using emergency funding for the program, Condon, with the Montana Food Bank Network, said even partial funding would be better than nothing.
“It’d be a little bit easier for us to try and fill that gap,” Condon said. “Then we’re not having to make up for a family’s entire grocery budget for the month.”
Sophie Albert, the executive director of the North Valley Food Bank in the northwest Montana town of Whitefish, said in a Tuesday phone interview that the instability of the federal SNAP program had already contributed to a surge of need at their food pantry facilities. In a typical week, she said, the food bank might serve 1,200 people. Last week, during the first days of lapsed benefits, foot traffic increased to about 1,500 people.
Even if financial food assistance arrives on Montanans’ EBT cards, Albert said, the reduced funds could create another benefits cliff for users just before Thanksgiving. She said her organization has been grateful to see increased donations until this point, but that she still anticipates “many hard weeks” to come.
On top of everything else, Albert said, Montanans will soon have to comply with new requirements for SNAP beneficiaries outlined in H.R. 1., also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, passed by Congress earlier this year. She said she expects those heightened eligibility requirements to particularly impact older Montanans and seasonal workers in the months ahead.
“This is a marathon,” Albert said, speaking about the food bank’s need for ongoing donations. “Not a sprint.”
