This interruption will also negatively impact local economies as SNAP benefits represent federal money that is spent in local communities where those individuals in need work and live. The SNAP program generates more economic activity each year than it spends on benefits.
“2,940,513 New Yorkers rely on SNAP to make ends meet,” said Nic Rangel, Esq., executive director at LASNNY. “A delay or cessation would mean many families facing the impossible choice between buying groceries or heating their homes as winter begins. SNAP is not only a vital nutrition program but also a key economic driver; every dollar spent generates significant local economic activity.”
Governor Kathy Hochul has declared a state of emergency to unlock $41 million in emergency funds to support New York’s food banks and community organizations as federal SNAP funding remains at risk. While this aid offers short-term relief, it does not fully address the estimated $700 million needed to sustain SNAP benefits statewide through November. At the same time, Attorney General Letitia James has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), challenging the agency’s failure to ensure the continuity of benefits during the federal funding lapse which is critical to protecting low-income New Yorkers and preventing widespread hunger.
LASNNY’s service area spans across 16 upstate New York counties, including Clinton County, where 7,406 households (11,792 total individuals) relied on an average household SNAP benefit of $300 per month to meet food needs. Nearly 69% of those benefits went to households that did not receive income from public assistance. These include working families often burdened by the high cost of childcare, individuals living with disabilities, and seniors on fixed incomes.
In New York’s 21st Congressional District, which is comprised of the largest geographic overlap of LASNNY’s 16-county service area:
· 30% of SNAP recipients are children.
· 18% of SNAP recipients are elderly.
For every SNAP dollar spent:
· $299 million worth of economic activity is generated within the local community each year, or about $24.9 million per month, which may be lost.
· Across NYS, $11.5 billion in annual economic activity is generated, or about $958 million per month.
For the average family of four, $300 per month in SNAP equals nearly one-third of the average monthly cost to purchase food at home under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Thrifty Food Plan, the most economical food plan used to set SNAP benefit maximums. Even a brief delay could mean forgoing more than a week’s worth of groceries at a weekly cost of $229.90.
This setback comes at a time when many individuals are looking forward to the gathering and togetherness of the Thanksgiving holiday. Instead, impacted SNAP households are contending with rising food costs, further reducing how far their limited means will go to feed themselves and their loved ones.
A freeze of benefits in the beginning of the annual heating season, will also exacerbate a difficult choice faced by many low-income households: whether to eat or to heat their homes. The Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP), another federal program impacted by the shutdown, aids in the form of vendor payments to home energy service providers. With the opening of the 2025–2026 HEAP season has been postponed until at least November 17, payments for the heating fuel which low-income families rely on to keep warm as temperatures dip must be withheld until the program officially opens and federal funds are received. An interruption to both benefits mean tangible sacrifice: diverting limited household income to these expenses and foregoing other essentials, or by foregoing adequate nutrition and/or heat as temperatures drop.
Programs like SNAP and HEAP are lifelines for low-income households. With both threatened by federal inaction, it is important to restore funding immediately to prevent widespread hardship as the holiday and heating seasons approach. Through LASNNY’s Nutrition Outreach and Education Program (NOEP), LASNNY continues to assist potentially eligible households with SNAP applications. Individuals seeking support can contact 1–833–628–0087.
