LANSING, MI ( WKZO AM/FM) – Friday night the U.S. Supreme Court issued an emergency stay temporarily blocking an order to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to issue full November Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for roughly 42 million low-income Americans.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services says in order to comply with the ruling, they directed their SNAP EBT vendor to pause issuing SNAP benefit payments to Michigan recipients.
November benefits that have not yet been issued will remain paused until the courts or USDA take further action to allow MDHHS to resume payment.
“We are disappointed by the federal government’s continued efforts to prevent SNAP benefits from reaching the Michigan residents who rely on them,” said Elizabeth Hertel, MDHHS director. “Taking this matter all the way to the Supreme Court creates uncertainty, confusion, and frustration. Worse than that, it punishes the more than one million Michigan residents who qualify for and rely on their benefits to put food on the table.”
Consistent with the court order issued Thursday, MDHHS began sending full November SNAP payments. Today’s late intervention prevents the department from finalizing all payments to Michigan recipients who have yet to receive their November benefits.
In FY 2024, the average SNAP household in Michigan received $335.03 in SNAP benefits per month, which is about $173 per person per month or $5.68 per person per day.
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