Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro delivers his first budget address to a joint session of the state House and Senate on March 7, 2023 (Credit: Amanda Mustard for the Pennsylvania Capital-Star).
As two federal judges ordered the Trump administration to release food assistance money, Gov. Josh Shapiro announced Friday the state will make $5 million available to a network of food banks across the commonwealth.
Shapiro also signed a disaster declaration to ensure the state money is available immediately, as 2 million Pennsylvanians who rely on the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) miss their November allocations. They would normally be paid Saturday.
“They made this determination even though they are sitting on billions of dollars of congressionally appropriated contingency funds,” Shapiro said in a news conference at the Philabundance food bank warehouse in south Philadelphia.
SNAP provides $366 million a month in food assistance, which benefits about one out of every eight Pennsylvanians – or about 15% of the state’s population.
Lori Jones-Brown, CEO of Philabundance, which is the largest non-profit food bank in the greater Philadelphia area, said food pantries across the region are already using reserves to meet increased demand.
“Just today, one of my colleagues told me that a mother came to our warehouse North Philly with four kids in our car asking for help,” Jones-Brown said. “Pantries are seeing scared faces and longer lines, and this is happening at a time when we were already seeing record numbers.”
The $5 million in state funding will flow through Feeding Pennsylvania, a statewide association of the commonwealth’s nine food banks that serve more than 1.5 million people annually across all 67 counties.
Additionally, Shapiro said he has launched a private-sector fundraising effort to aid food banks through the SNAP Emergency Relief Fund that has already collected more than $1 million from Pennsylvania business leaders.
Shapiro noted the commonwealth is part of the coalition of 24 Democratic states that sued the Trump administration this week, seeking a court order directing the U.S. Department of Agriculture to continue food assistance for 42 million people nationwide.
While the ruling is an important win, Shapiro said, the commonwealth still faces a potential crisis in feeding its most vulnerable people. It will take up to 10 days for the administration to get the money into SNAP recipients accounts, he said, and that’s if President Donald Trump obeys the dual court orders.
“Given this administration and its propensity to ignore the rule of law, I don’t trust that they’re going to follow this judge’s ruling,” Shapiro said.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration also canceled $13 million in USDA funding over three years to purchase locally grown food for food banks in the commonwealth. The state is also suing to enforce its contract with the USDA.
“Not only is President Trump harming people who are hungry, he is harming Pennsylvania farmers, and that’s on top of what he’s already done to them with his ill advised tariffs,” Shapiro said. “I think right now, we should be doing everything we can to feed Pennsylvanians and not making excuses as to why it can’t happen.”
State House Speaker Joanna McClinton (D-Philadelphia) said Shapiro’s actions show leadership and a responsible solution to the crisis, which she attributed to Republicans in Congress.
“While this solution is temporary, we can do more to ensure fewer Pennsylvanians rely on programs like SNAP, by increasing the minimum wage and investing in our schools and job training programs to give every person a path to success,” McClinton said in a statement Friday.
Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) and Health and Human Services Committee Chairperson Art Haywood (D-Montgomery) said in a statement the loss of SNAP payments will place an extraordinary strain on food charities.
“My colleagues and I have been receiving a deluge of calls from concerned constituents, fearful that they will not be able to stock their pantries and refrigerators because of the heartless decision of the president and his enablers in the federal government,” Costa said.
SNAP, historically known as food stamps, allows low income families and individuals to purchase food from neighborhood markets. For many, SNAP benefits have been sufficient to put food on the table, said Julie Bancroft, CEO of Feeding Pennsylvania. That organization will distribute the $5 million in emergency state funding to its network of food banks around the state.
“Where will they turn? They’ll turn to food banks and pantries, many for the first time, because their SNAP benefits have been just enough to make ends meet,” Bancroft said, noting the sudden increase in people seeking food assistance is exacerbated by the federal government shutdown during which most federal workers are not being paid.
“Our network is using cash reserves to keep shelves stocked, but these resources are limited and will run out, making emergency funding critical. The funding announced today will help ease the pressure in a time of crisis,” Bancroft said.
