More than 66,000 Alaskans will lose food stamps within weeks if government shutdown continues

If the federal government shutdown continues, more than 66,000 Alaskans will lose federal food aid within weeks, the state of Alaska is warning.

On Monday, the Division of Public Assistance within the Alaska Department of Health said that the federal government “has directed states to stop the issuance of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for the month of November due to insufficient federal funds. This means that Alaskans may not receive SNAP benefits for November, even if they are authorized to receive them.”

The division estimates that 66,471 Alaskans would be eligible for benefits under the program.

In its written statement, the division said that it tried to pay for the program with state money “and determined that a state subsidy was not mechanically possible under the federal payment system.”

Similar warning messages went out from other states across the country starting Friday. In Kentucky, where one in eight residents receives food aid, Gov. Andy Beshear said the pending cut makes this “a scary and stressful time.”

In Oklahoma, more than half a million residents receive food stamps and are expected to lose that help.

Altogether across the country, more than 42 million Americans rely on the food stamp program, which the federal government funds and individual states administer.

On Tuesday, the 21st day of the federal government shutdown, there appeared to be no progress toward resolution.

Sixty votes in the U.S. Senate are needed to advance a House-passed stopgap funding bill. That would require the support of some Senate Democrats, but they oppose its passage unless lawmakers also agree to extend subsidies for health insurance purchased through the federal marketplace.

Existing subsidies are scheduled to expire at the end of the year, sending prices soaring.

Thus far, Republicans have been unwilling to agree to the Democratic demand, and Senate Republicans also have been unwilling to change the Senate’s filibuster rule. Doing so would allow them to advance the stopgap funding bill with 50 votes instead of 60.

The AlaskaBeacon.com is a donor-funded independent news organization in Alaska.