Illinois residents who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits could receive partial payments as soon as Friday – but some might have to wait nearly two weeks amid continued uncertainty during the government.
SNAP recipients who are scheduled to receive benefits from Nov. 1 through Nov. 6 will receive partial benefits over the next six days, the Illinois Department of Human Services said in a message posted on its website. Benefits will load six days late, with Nov. 1 benefits going into accounts on Nov. 7, for example.
Those who receive SNAP benefits on Nov. 7 or later will receive a partial benefit on their regular date. State officials noted, because the U.S. Department of Agriculture changed guidance on partial benefits late on Wednesday, some individuals may receive an additional partial benefit payment after their first, scheduled date.
Because of the government shutdown, the Trump administration originally had said SNAP benefits would not be available in November. However, two judges ruled last week that the administration could not skip November’s benefits entirely because of the shutdown. One of those judges was U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell Jr., who ordered the full payments Thursday.
In both cases, the judges ordered the government to use one emergency reserve fund containing more than $4.6 billion to pay for SNAP for November but gave it leeway to tap other money to make the full payments, which cost between $8.5 billion and $9 billion each month.
On Monday, the administration said it would not use additional money, saying it was up to Congress to appropriate the funds for the program and that the other money was needed to shore up other child hunger programs.
Thursday’s federal court order rejected the Trump administration’s decision to cover only 65% of the maximum monthly benefit, a decision that could have left some recipients getting nothing for this month.
Most recently, the Trump administration asked a federal appeals court Friday to block a judge’s order that it distribute November’s full monthly SNAP food benefits amid the shutdown, even as at least some states said they were moving quickly to get the money to people.
The judge gave the Republican administration until Friday to make the payments through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. But the administration asked the appeals court to suspend any court orders requiring it to spend more money than is available in a contingency fund, and instead allow it to continue with planned partial SNAP payments for the month.
The court filing came even as the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a memo to states that it was working to make funds available Friday for full monthly SNAP benefits.
Officials in California, Kansas, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin confirmed that some SNAP recipients already have been issued their full November payments.
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