SNAP Benefits Could Be Distributed as Soon as Next Week in NC
North Carolinians who rely on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits could see partial payments as early as next week. The update comes after the Trump administration announced in a Nov. 3 court filing that it will issue payments to nearly 42 million Americans who receive SNAP assistance.
According to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, the state expects to begin distributing those funds soon. However, officials say they are still waiting for guidance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture before loading benefits onto existing EBT cards.
Summer Tonizzo, a spokesperson for the department, told the Citizen Times in a Nov. 3 email that the agency is “assessing the time needed to update our systems to load partial SNAP benefits onto existing SNAP beneficiaries’ EBT cards.”
“We are working as quickly as possible to ensure North Carolinians have timely access to these essential food benefits,” Tonizzo said.
The move follows recent rulings from two federal judges requiring the Agriculture Department to use contingency funds to maintain SNAP benefits during the ongoing government shutdown. Consequently, the administration was ordered to provide a plan for continued payments by Nov. 3.
On Oct. 28, North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson joined 24 other states in a federal lawsuit against the Agriculture Department. The lawsuit argued that SNAP funding was set to lapse Nov. 1 because of the prolonged shutdown, now in its fifth week.
In response, the Trump administration said it would use emergency reserves to cover “50% of eligible households’ current allotments.”