{"id":7281,"date":"2025-11-14T14:22:25","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T20:22:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/14\/missouri-moves-to-resume-full-federal-food-benefits-after-shutdown-disruption-2\/"},"modified":"2025-11-14T14:22:25","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T20:22:25","slug":"missouri-moves-to-resume-full-federal-food-benefits-after-shutdown-disruption-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/14\/missouri-moves-to-resume-full-federal-food-benefits-after-shutdown-disruption-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Missouri moves to resume full federal food benefits after shutdown disruption"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A shopper who receives SNAP benefits slides an EBT card at a checkout counter in a Washington, D.C., grocery store in December 2024. (Photo by U.S. Department of Agriculture).<\/p>\n

The Missouri Department of Social Services announced Thursday that it will continue to issue partial payments of federal food benefits for November, while updating its systems to resume paying full amounts.<\/span><\/p>\n

The announcement comes after President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed legislation <\/span>funding the federal government<\/span><\/a> through the end of January and ending the shutdown he cited as the cause of delayed payments from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWith federal funding back in place, our team is moving swiftly to issue full November benefits,\u201d said Jess Bax, director of the department, in a press release.<\/span><\/p>\n

Baylee Watts, the department\u2019s media director, said in an email that the department is working with its electronic benefits vendor to distribute full November benefits.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as we have confirmed the timing and what that will look like for different participants, we\u2019ll be able to share more,\u201d Watts said.<\/span><\/p>\n

States across the country scrambled to comply with <\/span>rapid-fire changes<\/span><\/a> to federal guidance on whether and how to issue SNAP payments while Congress remained gridlocked on expiring healthcare tax credits.<\/span><\/p>\n

The U.S. Department of Agriculture threatened on Saturday to impose financial penalties on states that had paid out full monthly benefits in keeping with a judge\u2019s order on Nov. 6 that USDA fund the program. USDA had already changed its instructions on the amount of benefits states could include in partial payments.<\/span><\/p>\n

Missouri began distributing partial benefits on Tuesday, with enrollees in the program receiving up to 65% of their normal monthly funds.<\/span><\/p>\n

The intricacies of USDA directives on partial payments forced state agencies to make complex calculations under pressure, said Christine Woody, food security policy coordinator at Empower Missouri, a nonprofit that advocates for low-income residents.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe (state) department did not cause this,\u201d Woody said, \u201cand they were working with what they had.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Recipients qualifying for the maximum allowed for their household, according to USDA <\/span>instructions<\/span><\/a>, received 65% of their regular benefits. Households eligible for less than the maximum saw their payments reduced by a further 30% of their income. Initial guidance told states to reduce maximum allotments by <\/span>50%<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

USDA \u201cstrongly encouraged\u201d states in a <\/span>policy memo<\/span><\/a> Thursday to \u201cbegin the process of upgrading systems and updating state procedures\u201d to make partial payments more quickly in the future. The memo noted that, even after Wednesday\u2019s appropriations bill, there aren\u2019t enough contingency funds to make full SNAP payments in November 2026 \u201cin the event of a lapse of appropriations next year.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Woody said Empower Missouri will advocate for more federal support in case SNAP runs out of funding in a future shutdown.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that there are things that the federal government could do,\u201d Woody said, \u201cto ensure that there\u2019s more money in those contingency funds.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This article was updated at 2:40 p.m. Nov. 14 to clarify the reduced benefit amounts.<\/em><\/p>\n

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