ATLANTA — The federal government says it will now comply with a judge’s order and make partial payments to SNAP benefit recipients, but no one knows how long that will take.
This comes as we’re hearing for the first time from Georgia U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock about the shutdown and when it could end.
Channel 2’s Richard Elliot reached out to the Georgia government office that administers SNAP payments, and it says, basically, they’re waiting to hear from the feds about how to move forward.
Warnock toured the Community Market on Monday to see how it serves its SNAP customers.
He toured it with Goodr owner Jasmine Crowe-Houston, who said a substantial amount of their customers use EBT cards.
She said the new announcement that the feds will at least partially fund SNAP benefits is good news, but she’s worried about when that will happen.
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“I mean, I would say something’s better than nothing. So that’s better. So, we’re getting 50%. Still trying to get clarity as to when that will be and who’s going to get it,” Crowe-Houston said.
Georgia’s Department of Human Services would like an answer to that, too. DHS disperses federal SNAP money to 1.5 million Georgians, and a spokesperson told Elliot on Monday that they haven’t heard from the feds as to just how long this will all take.
Political Consultant Bill Crane said it could take weeks or even months.
“I’m assuming the lag will be in part by the USDA. It’s 42 million Americans. They have to go back in and make sure they correctly calculate what that 50% will be,” Crane said.
Meanwhile, Warnock blames Senate Republicans for the shutdown, and said they can end it by sitting down and talking with them about healthcare.
“Here’s what Republicans can do. They can come to the negotiating table, the folks in the House can actually come to work, for god’s sake, and center on the people,” Warnock said.
Georgia’s Republican Gov. Brian Kemp blamed Democrats for the shutdown.
In a statement, he said: “Their repeated failure to reopen the federal government will be felt at kitchen tables all around the state, right as we approach the holidays.”
Some people wonder if by the time the feds and the state sort out all the formulating they’ll have to do to make partial SNAP benefits, the shutdown could be over.
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