As federal funds for food benefits shut off, state officials scramble for stopgap measures

By Theo Wells-Spackman
©2025 VTDigger.org

The Vermont Department for Children and Families said Wednesday it was directed by the federal government earlier this month to pause food stamp distribution for November due to the continued shutdown in Washington, D.C. State officials said Thursday that they’re rushing to deliver stopgaps for food and heating assistance.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture informed Vermont and other states in recent weeks that it did not have sufficient funds during the shutdown to operate its Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — SNAP — through November. Vermont’s U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch co-signed a letter last Wednesday calling on the USDA to use tools the legislators say are available to protect the program past the end of October.

“Due to the current lack of funding, Vermonters receiving benefits are encouraged to plan ahead,” said the Wednesday release from the Vermont Department for Children and Families, which administers 3SquaresVT, the state’s nutrition assistance program.

The department said it could not provide further information on Thursday, and encouraged benefit recipients to “contact their local food shelves and community resources.”

As the federal stalemate wears on, state officials are focusing on how they can get funds to households relying on food stamps, as well as heating benefits, if the shutdown continues into November. So far, plans are not finalized, but lawmakers say state-funded stopgap measures for those benefits could be active by mid-November.

Rep. Emilie Kornheiser, D-Brattleboro, who chairs the legislature’s Joint Fiscal Committee, said she and her colleagues have been “doing everything we can to guarantee” that Vermonters are able to receive state funds to buy groceries.

“As someone who’s been on food stamps and gotten (heat assistance) dollars … I understand how scary it is to just read that everything’s going to be shut off without any information,” Kornheiser said.

The state’s Emergency Board — a body that includes the governor and heads of four legislative committees that manage public money — will be meeting to determine a solution next week, lawmakers said.

Sen. Andrew Perchlik, D/P-Washington, who serves on the Emergency Board as the head of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said he’s “confident that money will go out.”

What’s less certain, he said, is whether it will be the full amount of the original benefit, given the state has “little confidence” of federal reimbursement. Perchlik and House leaders expressed support Thursday for fully funded state coverage of 3SquaresVT.

Amanda Wheeler, a spokesperson for the governor, said Thursday that the Scott administration will be presenting a plan to the Emergency Board in the coming days that “we hope they approve.”

Kornheiser said she has also been working to ensure that Low Income Heat Energy Assistance Program funds, which provide support to Vermonters during the cold winter months, will continue as normal. She expects the program, which like SNAP may see an absence of its normal influx of federal money, to be paid out as normal using state funds.

Rep. Theresa Wood, D-Waterbury, said the electronic benefit cards used to dispense the benefits are federally controlled, which adds to the complexity of the state’s challenge.

“It’s not an unlimited amount of levers that we can pull,” Wood said. But like Kornheiser, she expressed cautious confidence about the state’s ability to get support to those in need, even if unusual means of dispensing funds become necessary.

Vermont’s 3SquaresVT program costs about $12 million each month, according to documents released last week by the state’s Legislative Joint Fiscal Office.

Ivy Enoch, the policy and advocacy director at Hunger Free Vermont, called the USDA’s messaging a “manufactured crisis.” In an open letter Thursday morning, Enoch’s organization called on Gov. Phil Scott to urge the USDA to keep SNAP benefits flowing into November.

“People are wondering how they’re going to buy groceries next week,” Enoch said, adding that the absence of federal cashflow will also hurt the state’s food vendors and broader economy.

“These are folks that don’t have the ability to simply plan ahead for an issue like this,” State Treasurer Mike Pieciak said Thursday. The vast majority of Vermonters who receive food stamps are older, have disabilities, or live in households with children, he said.

“We have the money,” Pieciak said, referencing the more than $100 million in total that Vermont set aside in May to fill gaps in federal funding. “We just have to have a plan.”

Theo Wells-Spackman is a Report for America corps member who reports for VTDigger.org.