COLUMBUS — Ohioans who receive food stamps are getting February’s benefits this week but are also being warned that those benefits may have to last them twice as long as usual.
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U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue asked states to issue Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program aid no later than Jan. 20 for the nearly 40 million Americans in the program. The Trump administration said SNAP will be funded through February despite the partial federal government shutdown.
State authorities are cautioning recipients that the early-arriving benefits aren’t a bonus and they need to budget them to last until their assistance cards are loaded again in March.
The State of Ohio SNAP benefits (also known as food assistance or food stamps) will be added to customers’ EBT cards for the month of February before the end of January. This assistance will load on their EBT cards earlier than normal, so they will appear to have higher balances for January than they are used to…The food dollars they will soon receive includes all of the food assistance that can or will be provided for the month of February. It’s not likely that any future food dollars will be available until Congress takes legislative action or agrees to reopen the federal government. – Joy Bivens, Director, Franklin Co. Dept. of Job & Family Services
“The food dollars they will soon receive includes all of the food assistance that can or will be provided for the month of February. It’s not likely that any future food dollars will be available until Congress takes legislative action or agrees to reopen the federal government,” said Franklin County Department of Job and Family Services director Joy Bivens.
In Cincinnati, the Hamilton County Job and Family Services office plans social media posts, robo calls, phone recordings and the sharing of information with community partners and the news media to explain the situation. The county has some 100,000 recipients who will receive February benefits Wednesday.