5% of Coloradans in need received full SNAP benefits before Supreme Court blocked ruling

A small percentage of Coloradans received fully funded food assistance for November before the U S Supreme Court blocked a lower court ruling mandating the benefits continue amid the federal shutdown While Colorado authorities can t issue full payments to the remaining residents they don t plan to issue any refunds Gov Jared Polis mentioned in a message President Donald Trump s administration demanded late Saturday night that states undo full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Operation known as SNAP benefits paid out under judges orders last week marking the latest swing in a seesawing legal battle over the anti-hunger effort used by million Americans Colorado s SNAP scheme relies on million in federal funding to feed more than residents in need half of whom are children according to Polis s office That money has been frozen during the federal governing body shutdown Nearly Coloradans received full assistance to put food on the table before the Trump Administration sought the Supreme Court to halt all efforts to keep children and families fed Polis stated Sunday The state has not reversed those payments as they were allowed at the time Nonprofits and Democratic attorneys general sued to force the Trump administration to maintain the SNAP scheme in November despite the ongoing governing body shutdown They won the favorable rulings last week leading to the swift release of benefits to millions in several states and the Trump administration belatedly declared the venture could continue On Friday night however Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson temporarily paused the two rulings ordering the SNAP disbursement while the nation s highest court considered the Trump administration s appeal That led the Department of Agriculture on Saturday to write state SNAP directors to warn them it now considers payments under the prior orders unauthorized The Coloradans who received their full SNAP benefits for November make up roughly of the more than state residents who rely on the federal funding according to Polis s office State administrators stated they were working to distribute the food assistance funds on Friday before the Supreme Court halted operations Colorado executives are working to provide the remaining eligible residents with up to of their normal benefits over the next meager days Polis stated That number comes from the U S Department of Agriculture which issued a memorandum Saturday night telling state SNAP directors to again halt full SNAP benefit dispersals To the extent States sent full SNAP payment files for November this was unauthorized Patrick Penn deputy undersecretary of Food Nutrition and Consumer Services at the USDA wrote in the memo Accordingly States must at once undo any initiatives taken to issue full SNAP benefits for November The decision for the federal leadership to cover only of the maximum benefit will leave specific recipients without funds for the month Penn warned in the memo that states could face penalties if they did not comply It was unclear whether the directive applied to states that used their own funds to keep the effort alive or only to those relying entirely on federal funds Federal agriculture leaders communicated just a day earlier that they were in the process of enabling states to administer full payments in compliance with the order from the District Court of Rhode Island The U S Department of Agriculture did not respond Sunday to a request for comment Related Articles Coloradans to lose SNAP benefits Nov if shutdown continues Polis warns Supreme Court issues urgency order to block full SNAP food aid payments Federal judge orders Trump administration to fully fund SNAP benefits in November Judges order the Trump administration to use contingency funds for SNAP payments during the shutdown Denver food halls start donation drive for SNAP recipients U S Sen Lisa Murkowski of Alaska a Republican on Sunday called the directive shocking if it applies to states like hers that used their own money to prop up the initiative It s one thing if the federal cabinet is going to continue its level of appeal through the courts to say no this can t be done Murkowski stated But when you are telling the states that have commented this is a vital enough issue in our state we re going to find tools backfill or front load whatever term you want to help our people those states should not be penalized Democratic Gov Maura Healey of Massachusetts explained SNAP benefits were processed and placed on EBT cards before the U S Supreme Court order Friday night in line with the previous guidance from the USDA She commented that if Trump attempts to claw back the money we will see him in court Nothing is preventing the Trump administration from fully funding SNAP benefits Polis stated They are totally choosing not to The fastest way to clean up this mess would be for the federal establishment to drop its court appeals The Associated Press contributed to this assessment Get more Colorado news by signing up for our daily Your Morning Dozen email newsletter