Federal officials green-lighted Pennsylvania’s request to boost the payments for some food stamp recipients — but rejected the state’s attempt to send extra money to all of them.
The state Department of Human Services received approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service to issue a limited amount of emergency payments to assist low-income families in buying groceries during the covid-19 crisis, Gov. Tom Wolf announced Thursday afternoon.
People eligible for monthly benefits from the federally funded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, who do not already receive the maximum amount per household size, will get increased payments for March and April.
Maximum household payments are set at $194 for one person, $354 for two people, $509 for a family of three, $646 for a family of four and $768 for a family of five.
The supplemental payments will start Thursday and be automatically added to EBT cards.
The Wolf administration said the move is “in line with the federal government’s interpretation of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.”
“This pandemic is creating economic strains for many Pennsylvanians, and we are doing all we can to help the 1.8 million Pennsylvanians who use SNAP to keep food on the table have a little flexibility to make additional grocery purchases and reduce trips to the grocery store,” Wolf said in a statement.
SNAP recipients already getting the maximum household benefit — which include the poorest families — will not get the food stamps boost that state officials had requested.
The Wolf administration says that the USDA denied a broader request to issue an additional benefit equal to a household’s monthly payment to all SNAP recipients.
The state’s Feeding Task Force is working to assist local food banks and charitable programs in getting food to those who need it most.
RELATED: Hundreds wait in long lines at Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank for food giveaway
The state continues to process SNAP applications and benefit renewals. Emergency SNAP applications can be issued in as soon as five days.
For more information or to apply for benefits, go to the state’s online benefit portal.
