Oregon Coalition Decries USDA ‘Withholding’ SNAP Funds

By Isobel Charle, Public News Service

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said it lacks the funding and legal authority to continue Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits past Oct. 31 without a federal budget resolution but a coalition of 225 Oregon community organizations said it is not true.

David Wieland, policy advocate at Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon, said the USDA has $5 billion to $6 billion in contingency funds which would cover the cost of SNAP benefits nationally for most of November.

“USDA has a congressionally authorized contingency fund that they won’t commit to sending out to folks,” Wieland pointed out. “Hunger should not be a bargaining chip in this shutdown process.”

About 760,000 Oregon residents, or 18% of the state’s population, receive SNAP benefits. Wieland added SNAP is not only important for the people who need it to buy food. The program also benefits local grocery stores where SNAP dollars are spent. A 2020 study found SNAP supported nearly 200,000 jobs in the independent grocery industry.

Jimmy Jones, executive director of the Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency, said the suspension of SNAP benefits would force more Oregon families to choose between buying medicine or paying rent, and buying food.

“This has all the makings of a just terribly unjust and painful and destructive moment,” Jones contended. “It’s an act of economic violence that is going to be levied against our low-income population. And I am quite fearful for the future if the government is not reopened.”

Jones noted it is the latest in a series of policies affecting Oregonians. He pointed to the March shutdown of a pandemic-era food program, which cut food bank supplies by 20%, and the July passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which made cuts and added work requirements to SNAP. He argued too many people in Oregon are living on the edge.

“They’re really just one missed paycheck, one injury that sends them to the hospital,” Jones stressed. “One piece of bad luck away from not only not being able to feed their family, but not being able to stay in their homes.”

Oregon families enrolled in SNAP receive an average of $250 a month. The USDA estimated in a weak economy, $1 in SNAP benefits generates a $1.50 in economic activity.