With access to food assistance still up in the air, despite a judge’s order, Gov. Dan McKee has moved state money around to try prevent interruptions in benefits to 18,000 families on the federally-funded Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program.
Democrat McKee announced that his administration had advanced approximately $600,000 in state funds to the WIC program, which was otherwise in danger of shutting down in mid-November.
He said a lapse in the program would leave “many pregnant women, postpartum women, infants, and children without access to food that supports health and development at critical stages,” and health screenings, nutrition education, referrals, and breastfeeding support.
His move came on the same day a federal judge in Rhode Island ordered the federal government to tap a $6 billion contingency fund to pay SNAP benefits, which is the acronym for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, previously known as food stamps.
Governor previously moved money for SNAP benefits
Earlier this week, McKee moved state money from one bucket to another to make sure at least half of the state’s SNAP recipients would receive at least half the benefits they would otherwise get in November if the program had not become a hostage in the congressional budget standoff that led to the current government shutdown.
U.S. District Court Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr. ruled that SNAP benefits are an entitlement guaranteed under the law, and he ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture to pay them though appeals may slow the reactivation of the benefit program.
WIC is a separate nutrition program, run by the Department of Health, that “provides healthy groceries and a range of services to more than 18,000 pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding women in Rhode Island, as well as infants and children up to 5 years old,” according to the governor’s office.
“Whether it’s standing up for Rhode Islanders being cut off from SNAP by President Trump or protecting families who depend on WIC, Rhode Island will not stand by and do nothing while this crisis hurts the people we serve,” McKee said.
The governor said his administration “will further assess the situation should the shutdown continue past Nov. 30.”
