Emily R. AndersonAs questions lingered about whether President Donald Trump’s administration would pay out federal food aid for November, Utah’s Republican leaders pledged up to $4 million for food banks.
Now, as the U.S. Department of Agriculture will pay half of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits under a court order, Utah Senate Democrats are calling on the Legislature’s GOP supermajority to act and fund the rest of SNAP for the Utahns who rely on it.
In a letter sent Tuesday evening, the six-member Democratic caucus urged Gov. Spencer Cox, House Speaker Mike Schultz and Senate President Stuart Adams to call lawmakers into a special session to use a portion of Utah’s more than $330 million rainy-day fund to make up for the rest of the missing benefits.
“With confirmation that the federal government will only partially fund SNAP benefits for November, the timing is imperative for the state to cover the remaining amount to ensure families receive uninterrupted support while efforts continue to resolve the shutdown,” the letter read.
Democrats continued, “We are grateful for your creative funding solutions, including recent efforts to support the Utah Food Bank. However, the primary challenge remains delivering food to those who need it most.”
When Utah’s Republican elected officials announced the aid for food banks Friday, they blamed congressional Democrats for the SNAP stoppage.
“While Utah works to support its citizens,” Cox, Schultz and Adams wrote in the news release, “Democrats in Congress continue playing political games, putting working families at risk, hurting veterans, workers and communities nationwide, leaving essential personnel unpaid and critical services unfunded.”
Utah in fiscal 2024 had the smallest percentage of residents receiving SNAP benefits, or food stamps, according to the USDA.
Per the Utah Department of Workforce Services, about 86,000 of the lowest-income households in Utah are among the American families that have limited access to food as Thanksgiving approaches.
On top of helping provide for SNAP recipients, food banks across the country are facing additional strain assisting federal workers who haven’t received a paycheck since the government shutdown started over a month ago.
The state Senate districts with the highest proportion of constituents relying on SNAP help are in Salt Lake County, Weber County and in parts of rural Utah, according to Democrats’ letter.
“Food is not a privilege, it’s a basic human right,” Senate Minority Leader Luz Escamilla said in a statement. “Every family deserves the security of knowing they can feed their children. Utah has the means to step in and ensure no one goes hungry while we wait for federal action.”
Emily is a statewatch reporter at The Salt Lake Tribune, where she has worked since 2022. She received her master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University. There, she worked on investigative projects for The Washington Post and ProPublica. While writing, she's probably spinning something from her ever-expanding shelf of punk records.