After much back and forth, the Bowser administration acquiesced to D.C. Council members, advocates and constituents who demanded the temporary increase in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, as mandated in the FY 2024 budget.
On Wednesday night, D.C. Department of Human Services (DHS) Director Laura Zellinger announced the last-minute change in action, saying that, despite apprehension about operating costs and competing budgetary obligations, her agency will facilitate the 10% funding increase.
“Due to major budget shortfalls and workload pressures, in November I advised the mayor that it is in [the] best interest of residents to prioritize sustaining vital human services programs, over administering a new temporary local SNAP supplement,” Zellinger said. “While fiscal and administrative pressures still exist, this evening I advised the mayor that DHS will make this program work while we attempt to solve ongoing challenges.”
As explained by a D.C. government official on Wednesday, those challenges include support for 3,500 District families that are in rapid rehousing, an increase in funds for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, and efforts to sustain and expand shelter operations. Additionally, informing SNAP recipients about the temporary increase and, when the time came, reasons for reverting to the original allocation would incur additional costs for DHS, the D.C. government official said.
Last year, upon learning that Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) wanted to move the surplus funds elsewhere, the council signed a letter and the Office of the Attorney General, at the behest of Council member Janeese Lewis George (D-Ward 4), asked Bowser to follow through on surplus fund allocation.
On Tuesday, eight council members espoused support for a resolution by Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) that, if passed, would allow the council to sue Bowser for the surplus funds or join another group in doing so. However, it was the threat of a lawsuit by Legal Aid DC and Zuckerman Spaeder LLP that inspired the Bowser administration reversal of its initial decision.
Katina Cheadle, a mother of seven and the plaintiff in that lawsuit, recounted her efforts to feed her family with SNAP benefits, only to run out of the funds in the middle of each month. She said her husband’s recent job loss intensified her family’s struggle.
“With a little bit of help, my family would be able to do another grocery run each month while avoiding running out of existing SNAP benefits, which too often happens,” Cheadle said in a statement. “This would make a huge difference for us and would help make sure my family doesn’t have to choose between paying our bills and putting food on the table.”
The average SNAP benefit is $188 per month, or a little more than $6 per day. More than 144,000 D.C. residents, many of whom have children, are SNAP beneficiaries.
In the aftermath of Zillinger’s announcement, Legal Aid DC executive director Vikram Swarup requested details about the implementation of the funding increase, including how retroactive funds would be dispersed and a guarantee that more than 144,000 SNAP beneficiaries in the District would see the increase in February’s SNAP allotment.
“It should not have taken the threat of a lawsuit for the administration to follow the law and help families who need it, but we are glad they have committed to beginning that process,” Swarup said. “We will need to hear much more about how the administration plans to fully and promptly implement this policy, and we will continue to zealously advocate for the rights of our clients in that process.”
On Thursday morning, Bowser said that, though she advanced the temporary SNAP increase, she still wants to explore alternative means of funding that endeavor. In response to a question about the legal rationale for her initial refusal to follow the FY 2024 budget, Bowser told The Informer that her office was in the midst of submitting a reprogramming request to the council.
Had it not been for Mendelson’s lawsuit, the administration would’ve explored that process to allocate the $39 million in excess funds elsewhere, Bowser said.
“We have pressure in [the DHS] cluster and a short-term increase of a benefit that modest, people will see a temporary $30 increase before it goes back. The rationale [for diverting the excess funds] was that we could have a bigger bang,” Bowser said.
Bowser later expressed regret to The Informer, and other reporters, about approving the finalized FY 2024 budget with the SNAP excess revenue stipulation in place. “I shouldn’t have signed it into law,” Bowser said. “It wasn’t part of the normal process. It was based on a trigger. It was something I shouldn’t have agreed to and I won’t in the future. I don’t think I would be able to.”
I think it’s a problem the temporary increase is to be 3%. For the many, many DC residents whose SNAP benefits were slashed in September 2023 from several hundred dollars a month to $30/month, a 3% increase means they will receive $33/month. That will not be a significant increase in their monthly food assistance. I understand that DC has the lowest SNAP benefits in the country, in the wake of the federal abandonment of the program. Other states and municipalities are doing more for their citizens.