Texas Governor Greg Abbott Wednesday announced that the Texas Health and Human Services Commission will provide approximately $196 million in emergency Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food benefits for the month of October as the state continues to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Thank you to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for extending these emergency SNAP benefits for Texas families," said Governor Abbott. "The State of Texas will continue to ensure that Texans have access to nutritious and healthy food throughout the COVID-19 pandemic."
More than 994,000 SNAP households will see the additional amount on their Lone Star Card by October 15. The emergency October allotments are in addition to the more than $1.2 billion in benefits previously provided to Texans between April and September. HHSC received federal approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to extend the maximum, allowable amount of SNAP benefits to recipients based on family size.
Celia Cole of the statewide food bank, Feeding Texas says the state would be in real trouble without the money. “Food insecurity has doubled during the pandemic, so you're talking about over one in four Texas households right now facing food insecurity,” said Cole. “That's up from like one in seven before the pandemic. So it was already a pretty bad scenario.” As for how bad things could be without the federal assistance, Cole said, “I think what you'd see is a much sharper increase in food insecurity. You'd see longer lines at food banks, and you’d see our food banks really running out of food before we can help everyone in need.”
Administered by HHSC, SNAP is a federal program that provides food assistance to approximately 1.4 million eligible low-income families and individuals in Texas.