KY has billions in ‘rainy day fund.’ Can the state use it to pay SNAP benefits?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kentucky risks SNAP interruption for 600,000 residents if federal $106M withheld.
- State holds $3.7B rainy day fund but needs legislature approval to spend.
- Governor would need special session and GOP consent to tap reserves for SNAP.
Editor’s note, 2:49 p.m. Oct. 31: In a bench ruling out of Rhode Island Friday, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to pay federal nutrition benefits to millions of Americans amid the government shutdown using emergency funds. It wasn’t immediately clear if and when SNAP benefits will proceed.
About 600,000 people could start to go hungry after Nov. 1 if the shuttered federal government doesn’t provide the $106 million it owes for next month’s SNAP benefits to help low-income Kentuckians buy groceries.
At the same time, the state of Kentucky sat on $3.7 billion at the close of Fiscal Year 2025 in its budget reserve trust fund account, informally known as the state’s “rainy day fund.”
So, is it raining?
Some people who worry about the loss of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits say Kentucky should break into its piggy bank to cover what Uncle Sam apparently won’t.
There’s no point in having emergency savings if you don’t use them during an emergency, said Jason Bailey, executive director of the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy in Berea.
“If the roof is leaking on your house, you don’t leave a bunch of money in the mattress. You pull it out, and you fix the roof,” Bailey said.
But what would it take for Kentucky to do that?
‘A downpour for 600,000 Kentuckians’
Hopefully, Bailey said, Republican President Donald Trump will reverse himself and agree to find the $8 billion in the federal budget necessary to cover November’s SNAP benefits, because SNAP is a federal program, operated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, signed onto a lawsuit with two dozen other states Tuesday to force Trump to provide those federal funds. About one in every eight Americans receive food stamps through SNAP, for an average of $187 in benefits every month.
Beshear has previously said the state does not have money to fund SNAP benefits for November, which would cost about $106 million.
But if the federal government doesn’t provide the money, Bailey said, and the alternative is people staring into empty refrigerators, then Kentucky should use its rainy day fund to provide November’s SNAP benefits.
“That needs to be on the list of options,” Bailey said, “because it’s a downpour for the 600,000 Kentuckians who are not going to have enough food on the table if their benefits are cut off. I believe that the primary purpose of the rainy day fund is for emergencies. And this is one.”
How the rainy day fund works
The Republican-dominated Kentucky legislature has fattened the state’s rainy day fund in recent years as a self-imposed frugality, written into law, that allows it to gradually lower the state income tax rate.
However, budget documents show the legislature has allocated billions of dollars from the rainy day fund for spending it considers a priority, such as road projects, including infrastructure for the BlueOval SK Battery Park in Hardin County; water and sewer lines; university construction projects; and extra money to raise the funding levels in the ailing state pension systems.
For Beshear to use the rainy day fund to cover November’s SNAP benefits, he would need to call a special session of the General Assembly and get lawmakers’ approval, since the next regular session won’t begin until January. The governor only has limited authority to take money from the fund on his own, and that’s only to pay for emergency responses to disasters.
It’s not clear what would happen if Beshear called lawmakers back to Frankfort about SNAP benefits.
Senate Republican leadership offices declined through a spokesman to comment on the subject this week. House GOP leadership offices did not respond to a request for comment.
The governor’s office says his hands appear to be tied.
“The Trump administration has prohibited the federal government from paying out SNAP benefits for November and has also prohibited states from flowing state funds through the SNAP system to pay out benefits. This leaves Kentucky with few options,” Beshear spokeswoman Scottie Ellis told the Herald-Leader on Wednesday.
“Because of this, Gov. Beshear joined a lawsuit yesterday challenging the Trump administration’s suspension of SNAP benefits, demanding funding be restored for the 600,000 Kentuckians who rely on SNAP,” Ellis said. “As soon as the federal government reopens, Kentucky will begin processing benefits.”
“The governor is willing to meet with any legislator on possible ways to help Kentucky families during this time,” she added. “As always, a special session would require agreement on any and all legislation beforehand.”
This story was originally published October 29, 2025 at 1:53 PM.
