BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) - Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz on Wednesday discussed how the partial government shutdown is affecting people in Erie County.
With the partial government shutdown on its 19th day, the county executive detailed several grants that Erie County usually receives from the federal government such as community development block grant projects, the probation opioid response initiative, opioid overdose review board, DNA backlog reduction grant, and SNAP.
"I was actually expecting more from this presidential address," Poloncarz said Wednesday in his offices at the Rath Building. "The president uses more political theatre than anything else. He sends out an email and text immediately before the address and immediately after the address. This was nothing more than the president trying to shore up support from his base about an ill-thought-out wall."
Poloncarz said that Erie County services like the ones mentioned above are losing out on millions of dollars as a result of the shutdown.
Specifically, SNAP benefits were scheduled to run out by the end of the month. However, the USDA on Tuesday announced that the shutdown will not impact next month's benefits. SNAP, which was formerly known as Food Stamps, provides low-income households and senior citizens, disabled, and others, with benefits to purchase food in order to maintain good health. Marie Cannon, Commissioner of Social Services, said it's important for people to still apply during the partial government shutdown.
"It's absolutely heartbreaking to think that over 146,000 Erie County residents could be without assistance for the basic necessity of food because of a government shutdown," Cannon told reporters. The idea that SNAP benefits could run out at any months will continue to be a heavy burden on families."
Nearly 24,000 senior citizens and 50,000 children could be without food benefits, according to Cannon. Cannon said her office will still process every application, even after the January 21 deadline to submit them for February benefits. More information on SNAP can be found HERE
Poloncarz said that the county has no avenue to pay for these services during the partial government shutdown and that it's solely dependent on the federal government.
"(SNAP) is $18 million a month," Poloncarz said. "And I do not believe the state government would be able to do it too because if you think about New York State, 62 countines including five of which include the City of New York. I don't believe New York State would have a way to pick up the funding to be able to cover for the SNAP funding if it continues into March."
The county executive said that the federal government needs to get back to work.