New York Declares State of Emergency Over Food Assistance Cutoff: $65 Million in New Funds Brings State Total to $106 Million
New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency on October 30 as the federal government shutdown cut off Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for nearly 3 million New Yorkers starting November 1. New York administers about $650 million per month in federally funded SNAP benefits, and the federal refusal to release congressionally approved contingency funds has forced states to mount their own emergency responses.
The state is committing an additional $65 million in state funds for emergency food assistance, expected to provide about 40 million meals. Of that, $40 million goes to the Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program (HPNAP), which works with a network of about 2,700 emergency food providers, and $25 million goes to Nourish NY, which moves surplus farm products such as milk, apples and cheese to food relief organizations. Together with $41 million fast-tracked earlier in the week, New York's emergency food assistance commitment now totals $106 million.
The Governor is also deploying Empire State Service Corps and SUNY Corps members to support food banks, expanding paid hours for current members and creating new short-term crisis response positions. "The Trump Administration is cutting food assistance off for three million New Yorkers," Hochul said. "I won't sit idly by as families struggle to put food on the table. Today, I'm declaring a state of emergency and am committing additional state funds for emergency food assistance to ensure New Yorkers don't go hungry."
New York joined 24 other states on October 27 in suing the federal government to demand the release of emergency SNAP funds, and Hochul also joined 20 other governors in a letter to the President. State officials note that SNAP has been fully federally funded since its inception, and that no state can replace a program of New York's $650-million-a-month scale.
Related: Two federal judges rule USDA must use contingency funds to pay November SNAP benefits
Source: Office of the Governor of New York State.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 纽约州州长 Kathy Hochul（霍楚尔）。纽约大都会运输署（MTA）官方摄影，2024年2月，CC BY 2.0，经Wikimedia Commons。 / New York Governor Kathy Hochul. Official Metropolitan Transportation Authority photo, February 2024, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
