SNAP Benefits: Who Will Lose $250 in Extra Payments This March?

SNAP benefits emergency allotments will end come March 2023. Food stamp payments recipients will only receive their regular SNAP benefits amount in their Electronic Benefits Transfer card in the first half of the month.

States have offered emergency allotments to eligible households, receiving minimum payments of extra allotments of $95 per month, according to MARCA.

After the Consolidated Appropriations Act was passed and signed by U.S. President Joe Biden, the emergency allotments were put to a halt.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed in its press release that the last benefit month will include an emergency allotment in February 2023.

States can only issue emergency allotments in March if it was meant for the month of February 2023 emergency allotments.

The reduction in the budgets of SNAP benefits recipients in March could be around $95 to as much as $250.

SNAP Benefits March

The cuts of emergency allotments will be felt by several recipients as food inflation continues to prevail, with supermarket prices in January seen to be 10% higher as compared to the months beginning of 2022.

CNET reported that the emergency allotments have helped 4.2 million recipients to keep poverty at bay at the end of 2021, with most of the Black and Latino population included.

Biden also announced that the federal public health emergency will expire on May 11, 2023.

States can request extra funds for the emergency allotments as long as there is an emergency declaration and a federal public health emergency in place.

The average per-person reduction will be around $90 a month, while benefits households in Hawaii, Guam, and the Virgin Islands may be slightly more than the average increase due to their maximum benefit levels.

The average decrease in emergency allotments will differ depending on factors to consider, such as household size.

Households with children will see a decrease of $223 on average per month, while households with adults aged 60 and older will get an average decrease of $168 and $190 for those with disabled household members, as detailed by the Center for Budget Policy and Priorities.

Meanwhile, one-person households will have benefits decrease by an average of $132 per month, while three-person households will see an average reduction of $197 per month.

Food Stamp Payment Concerns

In Oklahoma, more than 400,000 are set to lose their emergency allotments, and food pantries are preparing for the wave of people that may need their help to make ends meet.

Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma authorities said that people have reached out to them with questions.

Cathy Nestlen with the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma said that the organization is hearing people reach out for help or are just confused and not sure what is going to happen.

Nestlen said in a KOCO report that the emergency allotments have kept some families out of poverty.

In Orange County, California, around 300,000 will be having a decrease in their benefits.

The Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County leaders are also seeing an increase in people looking for food supplies.

Its CEO, Claudia Keller, said that they started to see the increase in January.

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

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

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