• Michigan has available up to $30 million in state funds to offset halted federal SNAP aid, Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall said Thursday
  • As the federal shutdown continues, Hall says the plan is not to drain the fund but potentially dole payments out on a biweekly basis 
  • News comes as federal SNAP benefits are set to resume at at least a 65% rate by Saturday. About 1.4 million Michiganders utilize SNAP

LANSING — Michigan has available up to $30 million to spend on food assistance amid the ongoing federal government shutdown, state House Speaker Matt Hall said Thursday, cautioning that the money is not meant to fully replace federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.

The fund was initially created to help administer Michigan’s SNAP program and is meant to last the entire fiscal year, which began Oct. 1. 

“We don’t want people to be starving,” said Hall, R-Richland Township. “We don’t want people to starve during this difficult time, but we also need realistic solutions.”

The US Department of Agriculture announced in an updated memorandum on Thursday that federal SNAP benefits will be restored at 65% of their usual rate starting Saturday. Later Thursday, a federal judge ordered Trump to issue 100% of the November benefits starting Friday.

Roughly 1.4 million Michiganders are SNAP recipients, many of whom missed their first payment when benefits paused at the start of this month because of the ongoing federal government shutdown. 

To mitigate that funding shortage, Michigan has already had to tap into a $30 million funding pot housed within the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, giving $4.5 million to the Food Bank Council of Michigan last week. 

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Any further state spending, however, will come only after the council submits a report to the governor and Legislature detailing how it used the money, Hall said.

“We’re going to take this week to week, working with the governor to assess the need and determine how much money” the council needs, said Hall, adding the group’s report is expected to include recommendations of where or if additional funds are needed. 

The hope is that federal lawmakers resolve the ongoing shutdown, he added, or at the very least pass a temporary spending bill to partially reopen the government before any further funds need doling out. 

Phil Knight, executive director of the Food Bank Council of Michigan, said his group plans to deliver a report by the middle of next week and thanked  lawmakers for working quickly to fill gaps left by a lack of federal funding.

But even with additional state funds “it’s simply impossible to unplug SNAP” and expect food banks or pantries to fill the void, said Knight, whose organization serves seven food banks and more than 2,500 different food pantries in all of Michigan’s 83 counties. 

The $4.5 million they’ve already received, he added, will pay for about 6 million meals — roughly two days’ worth of food for all 1.4 million Michigan residents utilizing SNAP.

Knight acknowledged that, saying it was not possible to “scale charity to replace this program,” but noted the emergency funding is “helping to buy Michigan-made products and putting them on Michigan tables.

“The $4.5 million investment … it does not represent the scale of the problem, but it does represent what we could do efficiently,” Knight said.

Still, state House Democrats on Thursday criticized the 6 million meal figure, again pointing out the sharp discrepancy between it and the actual number of Michiganders who receive SNAP benefits. 

State Rep. Noah Arbit, D-West Bloomfield, also questioned why the state would need the council to issue a report ahead of receiving further benefits.

“How do you think it’s going to be used?” Arbit said. “It’s going to be used to buy food to feed people.”

President Donald Trump’s administration said Monday it would comply with recent court orders to use contingency funds to resume partial SNAP payments but warned it could take “a few weeks to up to several months” for states to adjust systems for reduced benefits.

In the meantime, DHHS Executive Director Elizabeth Hertel is urging Michigan residents to call 211 and visit local food pantries to supplement their needs.

“We understand and share the disappointment many households feel about receiving only a portion of their November SNAP benefits,” Hertel said in a statement earlier this week, which referred to SNAP benefits as “a vital lifeline” for many Michigan families, especially with the rising cost of food.

Congress has been unable to reach a deal on a federal spending plan as Democrats demand health care subsidies be part of the final agreement and Republicans say the subsidies should be dealt with separately. Without a spending bill in place, the federal government shut down Oct. 1. 

This shutdown has already become the longest in US history.

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