- With federal assistance poised to stop, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announces $4.5 million in funding for Food Bank Council of Michigan
- Michigan Senate approved a larger $71 million in stopgap funding for food assistance, pantries and more
- That spending could not reach governor’s desk before federal funding stops on Saturday, however
LANSING — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday announced $4.5 million in funding for food banks and the state Senate advanced a larger $71 million spending plan as 1.4 million Michiganders face the imminent loss of food assistance due to a monthlong federal government shutdown.
“Hungry families cannot wait for the folks in power in Washington, DC to do their jobs,” Whitmer said in a statement announcing funding for the Food Bank Council of Michigan to help feed needy families as the federal government prepares to pause the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program on Saturday.
Michigan’s 1.4 million SNAP recipients received about $3 billion in benefits last year, meaning the $4.5 million in food bank grants may not go far. It equates to one day of food benefits for roughly 800,000 Michiganders, according to averages from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
State Rep. John Roth, R-Interlochen, said the funding is intended to get Michigan food banks “two weeks down the road with the need that is out there.”
Food charities have called the looming benefit pause a “crisis,” saying it’s “physically impossible” to replace SNAP, which allows recipients to purchase a range of foods at most major grocery stores using a debit-like benefits card.
The new state grants are not “a long-term solution,” and the state “can only make up so much of the federal government’s spending,” House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, said in a joint press release with Whitmer.
The larger, $71 million spending plan approved earlier Thursday by Michigan’s Democrat-led Senate included $50 million for food assistance to make up for expected SNAP shortfalls.
The spending bill would also send $10 million in emergency grants to Michigan food banks, $10 million to the state’s agricultural surplus program and $1 million for Double Up Food Bucks program, which matches SNAP purchases of fruits and vegetables.
The Michigan Constitution prohibits the House from immediately taking up the bill before federal SNAP funding expires Saturday, and Hall made it clear he wouldn’t support the Senate plan, calling it “a political bill by the Democrats.”
Instead, Hall called the Food Bank Council funding he and Whitmer announced a “real bipartisan solution” and said they could consider transferring more money to the group if necessary.
‘We have a responsibility’
Senate Democrats who pushed the $71 million spending plan, approved in a bipartisan 27-4 vote, called it a “lifeline” for Michiganders in need.
“Our state does not have the financial means or the ability to fix every single problem coming out of DC,” said Senate Appropriations Chair Sarah Anthony, D-Lansing. “What we’re doing today is not a permanent fix. Our resources are limited, but we have a responsibility to provide for the people of this state.”
Republicans largely backed the bill but questioned Democrats’ timing, arguing they should have acted sooner to finalize the plan before Saturday.
State Sen. Jonathan Lindsay, R-Coldwater, voted for the legislation but said it was only “sending a signal” about help. “The people need to understand, this is all political theater,” he said.
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Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, said it took lawmakers some time to design the legislation in a way that wouldn’t run afoul of federal rules but would still get the benefits to the needy quickly.
She contended that lawmakers can still get money to SNAP recipients before the need becomes too great.
The bill would create a separate food assistance fund in the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, which Brinks called “probably the most efficient and effective way to get dollars directly to the households that need them most.”
‘Completely unrealistic’
Senate Democrats are hoping the state could send the infusion of cash directly to Michigan EBT Bridge cards so recipients can spend the money the same way as SNAP benefits.
Debate in the Senate mirrored partisan divides in Congress as lawmakers from each party accused their Washington counterparts of lengthening a federal government shutdown that is already nearing a historic length.
SNAP benefits in Michigan cost about $3 billion a year. The $50 million in state funding, then, would likely only last about a week.
Without an end in sight for the federal shutdown, Brinks said state lawmakers will “probably be having additional conversations on this about re-upping more funding” if lawmakers in DC fail to reach a deal to fund the government.
Still, as the shutdown stretches on, having the state step in for longer may be unrealistic. The money for the proposed stopgap spending bill, which would come from Michigan’s general fund, is limited.
The idea that states can fill the SNAP gap in lieu of federal spending is “just completely unrealistic,” Georgetown Law professor David Super said Thursday during a Brookings Institution webinar, noting that the Trump administration is unlikely to refund any money states put up.
“Private charity doesn’t have anything like the resources to make this up, but really, states don’t, either,” he said. “This notion that states just have, cumulatively among them…another $8 billion that’s gathering dust is fancy.”
Bridge reporter Lauren Gibbons contributed to this story.
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