Nearly 600,000 in KY who use SNAP for groceries could lose benefits in November
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kentucky faces potential SNAP cutoff in November for about 595,155 recipients.
- State will fund TANF and senior meals in November but lacks funds for SNAP.
- Governor warns state faces $305M shortfall and cannot cover December benefits.
State officials have found money to fund senior meal programs, but Kentucky is scrambling to decide what it will do if the federal government runs out of funds come November for a program nearly 600,000 Kentuckians depend on to pay for groceries, Gov. Andy Beshear said Monday.
Beshear said the state will not have money to pay for the federal Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, or SNAP, if the federal program runs out of funding at the end of this month due to the federal government shut down, which started Oct. 1.
Beshear also said Monday the state will cover the costs for another key program, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, for November after the federal government notified states recently it did not have money to cover those costs.
That program, which provides assistance for low-income families under certain circumstances, will be funded by the state only for November. The state will have to front $12 million for that program. The state hopes to be reimbursed by the federal government for those costs, Beshear said.
The state cannot afford to pay those benefits for December, he said.
Beshear said the state is currently facing a more than $305 million budget shortfall and is scrambling to find funds to cover critical programs families depend on to help with daily household expenses. The SNAP program alone helps feed 1 in 8 Kentuckians, Beshear said.
“My hope is that the folks in D.C. will understand the American people are not a negotiating tool,” Beshear said. “Please hope the federal government can come to a solution.”
State finds money for senior meal programs
In September, the Beshear administration told the state’s 15 area development districts, which oversee senior feeding programs, it would not have enough money to fully fund the program.
The senior feeding program helps provide meals at sites across Kentucky, including at the Lexington Senior Center. The Beshear administration had expanded the program during COVID and had used American Rescue Plan Act money, or COVID relief funding, to do so.
But that money had been tapped out, Beshear said during a September news conference.
Without a new influx of new cash, the senior meal programs were looking to curtail the number of meals provided or make other cuts, according to WKDZ in Cadiz.
“Most of what has been cut back on can be restored,” Beshear said.
Many legislators had urged Beshear to find money to keep the program going without further cuts.
Last week, Budget Director John Hicks said in a letter to state legislative leaders the state had tapped $9.1 million in Medicaid funding to keep the senior meal program going. That Medicaid funding came from a study that was funded but not completed, Beshear said.
Beshear said he spoke with state legislative leaders who have agreed to retroactively approve the funding change.
Beshear said the state has been able to tap other funds in prior years for those senior meal programs. Those funds are now exhausted.
“It’s the next budget that is going to be a concern,” Beshear said.
SNAP benefits could be exhausted by November
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told reporters Oct. 16 the SNAP program, formerly known as food stamps, would be out of money by the end of the month due to the federal shutdown.
SNAP benefits help more than 42 million people across the country pay for groceries.
“So you’re talking about millions and millions of vulnerable families, of hungry families that are not going to have access to these programs because of this shutdown,” she said.
The United States Agriculture Department released an Oct. 10 letter to regional SNAP directors directing them to stop work on November benefits.
In Kentucky, SNAP data for May 2025 shows 595,155 people in Kentucky receive SNAP benefits, or 242,405 households. That’s roughly 13% of Kentucky’s households.
Nationally, benefits average $187.20 per participant per month.
Federal data shows Kentucky SNAP benefits total more than $103 million per month. Kentucky does not have that money, Beshear said during the Monday news conference.
The state has been directed by the federal government not to process payments for November, Beshear said. People who receive SNAP benefits will continue to receive those benefits through the end of October, he said.
President Donald Trump’s administration has said money from new tariffs would likely be used to fund another key food assistance program also in danger of running out of money — the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, commonly called WIC, which is a special program for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding and postpartum women and children up to the age of five.
That leaves the federal government with few funding options if Congress does not resume negotiations on key budget issues so it can re-start the government.
Beshear said he hopes the federal government will find a temporary funding solution soon or will re-start negotiations to reopen the government so those SNAP benefits can be paid come November.
“That’s really gonna hurt, and I hope the federal government can resolve it and ultimately put our people first,” Beshear said.
This story was originally published October 20, 2025 at 5:04 PM.
