Legislators want to end COVID emergency early, but risk losing $50 million in food stamps
An effort by the General Assembly to end Kentucky’s COVID-19 emergency early could result in the state losing $50 million in food stamps.
First highlighted by the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, and confirmed by Cabinet for Health and Family Services spokeswoman Susan Dunlap, the passage of Senate Joint Resolution 150 will cost a month’s worth of COVID-related “emergency allotments” to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
“COVID continues to impact many families and it is indefensible to take food benefits away from Kentuckians — especially our most vulnerable seniors and children — who already go hungry at a rate higher than the national average,” Dunlap said. “In Kentucky, 544,000 individuals representing 256,000 households are currently benefiting from the emergency allotments.”
Senate Joint Resolution 150 would end the pandemic-related state of emergency weeks earlier than the previously established April 14, a date codified by the legislature and approved by Gov. Andy Beshear in January.
The emergency allotments from the federal government accounted for about 40% of the total SNAP benefits in February, according to Dunlap — $52.8 million of the roughly $132 million in total SNAP benefits distributed for that month.
The potential loss of allotments, per Dunlap, comes in spite of a clause in the resolution stating that it’s “not the intention” of the General Assembly in passing the resolution to “impair or delay” the receipt of any pandemic-related funds.
With the April 14 end date, those benefits would have sunset in May.
In a statement, Senate President Robert Stivers indicated that Beshear has not reached out to the legislature regarding the resolution, but that there is still time for him to do so.
“If the governor needs something from the legislature, he still has time to come to us and we have time to respond,” Stivers said.
Beshear’s office, through spokeswoman Scottie Ellis, emphasized that the legislature has not reached out to the governor.
“Both the House and the Senate worked with the Governor to extend the state of emergency until April 14. To our knowledge, the legislature has not reached out to our office regarding the resolution,” Ellis said.
Dunlap said that the cabinet communicated with the GOP-led legislature’s two health committee chairs. Rep. Kim Moser, R-Taylor Mill, and Sen. Ralph Alvarado, R-Winchester, regarding the “unintended consequences” of the resolution earlier this month. Both Moser and Alvarado voted for Senate Joint Resolution 150, though the Senate’s vote took place in late February.
The House voted to pass the resolution, which has the effect of law, 75-20 with a handful of Democrats joining the entire GOP caucus on Friday. Beshear has another eight days, excluding Sunday, to consider signing or vetoing the resolution. If he vetoes, the GOP has strong enough majorities in both chambers to override him.
Dustin Pugel, senior policy analyst for the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, had emailed legislators on the missing SNAP benefits earlier that day and some Democrats voting ‘no’ highlighted the possibility.
Rep. Cherlynn Stevenson, D-Lexington, said the legislature should think “long and hard” about missing out on the millions in SNAP benefits and cutting short the ability for the National Guard to help in hospitals.
“COVID is very much still here. We do still have some needs that the federal dollars are helping us with,” Stevenson said. “… While our hospitals aren’t technically overrun, I think we know that all our hospitals are screaming that we have a shortage of nurses.”
Some GOP representatives said that getting another month’s worth of federal benefits shouldn’t be the primary concern when thinking about ending a state of emergency.
“The question we really need to ask ourselves is, are we in a state of emergency? Are the hospitals overflowing? Are the deaths skyrocketing? Are the numbers climbing? That is the question we need to ask, not whether we can squeak by another month or three on federal money,” Rep. Thomas Huff, who carried the bill in the House, said.
Kentucky’s COVID-19 numbers are declining based on most metrics.
GOP lawmakers in both the Senate and the House have heralded the resolution as necessary to “get back to normalcy,” but Beshear and Democrats in the House questioned what actual restrictions are being enforced on a statewide level.
In addressing the SNAP benefit loss, Rep. Nina Kirk-McCormick, R-Inez, stressed that federal dollars are still taxpayer dollars.
Of note, Republicans in the Senate had stated as Senate Joint Resolution 150 was being introduced and passed that the governor had time to communicate with them about any potential issues that might arise due to the timing.
Sen. Stephen West, R-Paris, as the bill was being introduced in late February, said that Beshear should reach out to the legislature if “anything in this bill prohibits us from receiving federal funding.”
This story was originally published March 14, 2022 at 10:51 AM.
