SNAP Benefits: Expect $90 Decrease in Payments This March

The SNAP benefits update for the month of March might not be a welcomed change for the beneficiaries of the nutrition program.

The emergency allotments applied to SNAP benefits since 2020 will be coming to an end come March, with many expecting the decrease will be particularly low-income families, as reported by Iowa Public Radio.

The end of emergency allotments for SNAP benefits was stopped after Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, removing at least $90 from each household's monthly food budget.

More than 41 million people receive SNAP benefits or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

However, the food policy director of the Consumer Federation of America, Thomas Gremillion, noted that the benefits "are not very generous," to begin with.

Gremillion noted that he expects food pantries and other organizations participating in anti-hunger initiatives will help "fill the need for families" after the decrease in their budget.

SNAP Benefits March 2023

Friends in Service Helping food pantry, known in rural northeastern Nevada as FISH, sees an increase in the number of families it serves.

Food pantry organizer, Tammy King, noted that the beginning of the month is busy for the food pantry, with more people seeing an end on their SNAP emergency allotments and stocking up on free food to stretch their food budget, according to USA Today.

King added that the food pantry now serves more families than at any point in her 20 years of working there.

FISH served food boxes to around 790 people in January.

Officials projected families being served in food pantries will see a 30% to 40% decrease in SNAP payments as emergency allotments stop in 32 states.

Andrew Cheyne, managing director of public policy for GRACE, said that the cuts to SNAP benefits will particularly hurt people living in rural America.

GRACE is a nonprofit organized by the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul.

Cheyne went on to say that they are guessing several households will not be aware that the decrease will be happening, with families going to the grocery store and not having enough money to buy the food they need.

SNAP director for the Food Research & Action Center, Ellen Vollinger, said that she sees no way that food pantries and charities will make up fully for what is being lost.

SNAP Benefits Emergency Allotments

The Consolidated Appropriations Act failed to include the emergency allotment fundings in the $1.7 trillion bill that U.S. President Joe Biden signed in late December.

Emergency allotments end after the distribution of February 2023 benefits for the remaining states. There will be no more emergency allotments that will be distributed to beneficiaries in March.

The funding provides $95 or more additional funds each month. It also allowed SNAP recipients to cushion the financial hardships caused by the pandemic, as stated by Go Banking Rates.

Food Research & Action Center warned that losing emergency allotments could cause a "hunger cliff for millions of people."

READ MORE: SSDI Benefits February: When Will You Get Your $3000+ Payments?

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Millions of Americans are facing "hunger cliff" as food stamp benefit cuts loom - from CBS News