RAPID CITY, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley has joined a coalition of 19 state attorneys general urging U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to provide stopgap funding for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) as the government shutdown continues. The action is intended to protect the 42 million Americans who rely on the program for food assistance.
Jackley expressed concern over the impact on South Dakotans. “South Dakotans who rely on SNAP are being adversely impacted by this federal government shutdown,” Attorney General Jackley said. “It is time to approve a clean continuing resolution to reopen the government and ensure that SNAP recipients don’t go hungry.”
The government has been shut down since Oct. 1 over a legislative impasse regarding competing congressional spending bills. The coalition of attorneys general, led by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, warned in their letter to Schumer that a continued shutdown means SNAP benefits will not be issued starting on Nov. 1, following a notice from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The attorneys general are calling for Schumer to support a clean continuing resolution to keep the government open and essential services, like SNAP, funded.
“No family should go hungry because Washington lacks the appetite for consensus,” Yost said. “It is imperative that Congress takes immediate action to ensure the continuation of SNAP funding. The wellbeing of countless Americans hinges on their actions, and the time to prevent further suffering is now.”
The letter warns that Washington’s political brinkmanship is putting working families, seniors and people with disabilities at risk. The signers, in addition to Jackley and Yost, are from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia. They are calling on Congress to prevent a crisis they deem entirely avoidable.