‘Everybody that’s retired now is scared’: Washington residents to lose food stamps if shutdown extends beyond Friday

Nearly a million Washingtonians will lose access to food benefit programs, including food stamps, if the ongoing federal shutdown continues beyond next week.

Karen A. Brantt is one of them.

“I’m on disability. I have osteoporosis and all kinds of stuff, and I’m 75 years old,” she said while leaving the Northwest Boulevard Safeway with her son and a bag of groceries Friday evening. “And I don’t get enough from food stamps, but they help.”

Norah West, a spokesperson for the Washington Department of Social and Health Services, said Friday that more than 540,000 households in the state, representing nearly 930,000 people, would not receive benefits if Congress fails to reach a deal to reopen the government.

“President Trump controls the White House and both chambers of Congress. It’s clear where the responsibility lies to keep the government running,” Gov. Bob Ferguson said in a statement Friday. “These political games are harming the most vulnerable Washingtonians. Trump and Congressional Republicans are to blame for this unnecessary crisis.”

Republicans like U.S. Rep. Michael Baumgartner of Spokane stress that it is Democrats’ no votes in the Senate that have stopped the government from reopening.

“This is not a game,” Baumgartner said earlier this week. “There are real people suffering from the shutdown, whether that’s federal employees that are being furloughed or paychecks that are not going out to important functions like air traffic control or TSA.”

Previously a medical clean room supervisor in Minnesota, Brantt had to resort to Social Security benefits earlier than most due to an injury preventing her from standing or sitting for too long. Consequentially, she receives less money than the average retiree.

“I make sure all my bills are paid every month. That’s first,” Brantt said. “At the end of that, what I have leftover is what I can budget for food. I don’t buy a lot of consumer products now because I have to spend more.”

Food stamps help Brantt to maintain more financial independence from her son, Eric Bowman, 55. Bowman, the manager of a garbage truck company in Minnesota, said that while he could “do OK” sending money to help his mom afford food, the stamps help to “keep everything kind of constant.”

He added, “It’s also a pride issue too, on her end.”

According to West, recipients in Washington received more than $173 million in benefits in September.

“Losing food assistance will have devastating impacts on the well-being of Washingtonians and hurt local economies across the state,” West wrote in an email Friday.

West said the state is seeking additional guidance from the federal government, including whether recipients would receive a prorated portion of their benefits if an agreement to reopen the government is reached midmonth.

“We do not have funding at the state level to backfill this program, but we are actively looking for ways to feed hungry people in our state and mitigate some of the harms caused by the federal government shutdown,” West said.

AXIOS reported Friday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has notified states that it cannot use contingency funds to pay for food stamps if the shutdown extends into November, and that it won’t reimburse states that pay instead.

“Unlike other reimbursable programs, SNAP allotments are fully federally funded,” the USDA wrote in a memo obtained by AXIOS. “There is no provision or allowance under current law for states to cover the cost of benefits and be reimbursed.”

According to the memo, the contingency funds are reserved for natural disasters and other events that “can come on quickly and without notice.”

“For example, Hurricane Melissa is currently swirling in the Caribbean and could reach Florida,” the memo states. “Having funds readily available allows the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to mobilize quickly in the days and weeks following a disaster.”

According to the memo, approximately 42 million people will not receive their monthly SNAP benefit on Nov. 1 if a deal is not reached. According to the USDA, approximately 1 in 8 residents receive an average of $187 through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

The prospect of losing her food stamps has been “really getting to” Brantt.

“All my friends are on disability. Everybody that’s retired now is scared,” she said. “But because they’re going to go ahead and do a fancy-dancy addition to the White House, destroying history, then they’re going to take our Medicare and food stamps? That’s not right. It doesn’t help the American people.”

Local food banks are concerned their capacity for food assistance may be strained as programs like SNAP and Women Infants and Children Nutrition Program no longer provide food. Second Harvest spokesperson Eric Williams said “concerns are heightened” for the beginning of November.

“SNAP provides nine times as much food as does charitable giving. I can’t fathom how much money it would take to backfill that assistance,” he said.

Bowman said more time is needed for people to build safety nets for themselves before food stamps funding is cut off.

“Some people don’t have the second chance, third chance people to help – it’s just them,” he said. “And if they want to cut corners, then let’s find out who the people that don’t really need it are and get back that way, so that the people who actually do need it have it. But that’s difficult as well too.

“I’m all for it – if my taxes go up to help my mom or anybody else manage, go for it. As long as it’s not being abused.”

Those who rely on the state’s Women Infants and Children Nutrition Program are also at risk of losing access to services in mid- to late-November. The program provides food assistance and baby formula to mothers with young children under age 5.

While the state has secured funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide food benefits for several weeks, local WIC workers will be temporarily laid off beginning Oct. 31. Melissa McDaniel, who oversees the Spokane WIC program as administered by the Spokane Regional Health District, said their five clinics will temporarily close at the end of next week.

“From the moment you find out you’re expecting, we provide extra support to keep your family healthy,” McDaniel said. “We see so many families that rely on us to get formula to feed infants.”

Any food benefits in November will need to be distributed directly by the state Department of Health and will only be available to current recipients, she said. If funding is not restored, the impact to the 10,000 families that rely on WIC would be “devastating.”

“There are so many people who have been touched by WIC in a family. Their sister has. Their mother has. The impact on this community is huge,” McDaniel said.

Twenty-nine WIC staff will be temporarily laid off in Spokane on Oct . 31. So far, the DOH has allocated $210,555 to Spokane Regional Health District to cover WIC staffing and administrative expenses for the month of October. The total cost of operations for Spokane’s WIC program in October is approximately $271,000. The difference is being paid out of SRHD reserve funding. It is unclear if these funds can be reimbursed after the government reopens.

PROTEC17 union representative Suzie Saunders, who represents SRHD employees, said the soon-to-be laid off WIC staff are more concerned for their clients than themselves.

“I’ve sat with them as they cried and worried about infants not having access to formula and moms not being able to put food on the table for very small children in this community.”