USDA Releases February SNAP Funds Early
The Department of Agriculture (USDA) will pay out February’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits a few weeks early to millions of beneficiaries. The USDA will use the authority under the last Continuing Resolution to issue February benefits. The Continuing Resolution that expired Dec. 21, 2018 provided an appropriation for programs like SNAP and Child Nutrition to incur obligations for program operations during the 30 day-period following the expiration of the Act. The announcement has caused retailers to begin preparing for a potential wave of SNAP recipients shopping next week, while state agencies that administer the SNAP program have begun scrambling to communicate the change to beneficiaries.