Vermont Leaders Pass Measure to Provide Emergency Food and Heating Assistance
The Vermont Emergency Board, made up of legislative leaders and the governor cast aside partisan considerations to pass the $6 million measure that will help thousands including many in Hinesburg
Vermont legislative leaders on the Vermont Emergency Board and Gov. Phil Scott approved a $6 million proposal that fully funds the 3SquaresVT program — Vermont’s version of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) through Nov. 15.
The move helps thousands of Vermonters – including many in Hinesburg — who depend on federal food assistance in order to eat. Because of the federal government shutdown, this program was to have stopped on Nov. 1 despite the government’s reserve fund of $6 billion for this purpose.
President Trump had prohibited that fund from being tapped. The Vermont Congressional delegation decried the move, saying the fund is mandated by Congress and that not using it during the shutdown to keep assistance going was a cruel political ploy to bring pressure on Democrats.
In Montpelier on Wednesday the bi-partisan discussion and approval was less about politics and more about how to help Vermonters needing this assistance.
“It’s our obligation at this point as states to do what we can for the people we serve,” Scott told reporters. “This is a basic benefit that many, many Vermonters rely on.”
Some 65,000 people in Vermont receive SNAP benefits.
Lawmakers have been working with Scott in recent weeks to prepare a response, after the state received guidance earlier this month that the U.S. Department of Agriculture — absent a congressionally-approved funding bill — does not have sufficient funds to continue SNAP into November.
The roughly $6.5 million in total costs for all the provisions in the plan will be drawn from the $50 million in surplus revenue that Vermont set aside in May to shore up state agencies impacted by federal cuts. This decision marks the first time that pot of money has been used.
Vermont is one of only a few states moving in recent days to temporarily step in and replace the loss of federal funds, which Scott said he was “surprised to learn.”
The action by the Vermont Emergency Board covers not only the food benefits but also the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, LIHEAP.A The stopgap measure will allow SNAP recipients to access half of their expected November benefits for now as usual, through Electronic Benefit Transfer, or EBT, cards.
“The Trump Administration has caused so much fear, anxiety, and uncertainty for Vermonters,” Senate President Phil Baruth said in a statement. “Ensuring that Vermonters will be able to buy groceries and heat their homes is the bare minimum. I will continue to do everything I can to protect Vermonters from the impacts of the Trump Administration.”
The claim that no federal funds are available has been contested, both by Vermont’s congressional delegation and by Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark, who on Tuesday joined a 26-state lawsuit against the Trump administration demanding the USDA release contingency funding for the program.
“The president has created a new crisis,” Attorney General Charity Clark said. “The best case scenario is that (he) comes to his senses … and does what Congress asked him to do.”