Gov. Beshear orders $5M from ‘rainy day fund’ to KY food banks under state of emergency
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency Friday and ordered $5 million from the commonwealth’s “rainy day fund” to go to food banks to help bridge any potential lapse in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.
Beshear’s order came shortly after two federal judges — one in Rhode Island and a second in Massachusetts — ruled President Donald Trump’s administration must find the money to continue issuing SNAP payments, formerly called food stamps, in November as the government shutdown drags into its second month.
It is not clear if and when SNAP benefits will restart, or if those benefits will be less than what people typically receive. The Trump administration had not appealed either ruling as of late Friday afternoon.
Nearly 600,000 Kentuckians receive SNAP benefits in Kentucky each month, including 230,000 children, according to Beshear’s order.
“Without supplemental benefits to support their food budgets, these Kentucky households face an imminent threat to their safety and health,” Beshear’s order states.
Beshear made his declaration under a law that says a state of emergency exists “in the event of the occurrence or threatened or impending occurrence of an event that threatens public safety and health,” according to the order.
“Kentuckians going hungry threatens public health and safety, and the federal government’s and the Trump Administration’s refusal to fund the SNAP program to help feed our vulnerable citizens will significantly increase the demand on food banks in Kentucky,” the order states.
In a video accompanying his office’s announcement, Beshear said Trump can “just say the word, and we can make sure that folks in America do not go hungry.”
The governor said there are likely to be delays in people getting their benefits “because the federal government has waited so long.”
“We don’t know whether the Trump administration is going to say, ‘OK, we have the power to feed people, we therefore should.’ Or, will continue to fight this, using people as pawns in a political battle,” Beshear said. “As governor, I can’t let that happen. A person starving, to me, isn’t a Democrat or a Republican. They’re a child of God.”
How does Beshear’s executive order work?
The $5 million will be provided to Feeding Kentucky, which has a network of seven food banks providing food and groceries to Kentuckians in all 120 counties.
Under the state of emergency, the Division of Emergency Management will work with the Office of the State Budget Director to “identify, allocate and transfer funds as necessary from available sources to support the food banks during the lapse of SNAP funding.”
The Cabinet for Health and Family Services will then provide the money to Feeding Kentucky “through existing memorandums of agreement to secure the food safety of Kentucky households for the duration of the State of Emergency by purchasing and distributing additional food.”
Kentucky’s monthly SNAP benefits cost about $106 million.
Kentucky’s budget reserve trust fund, commonly called the “rainy day fund,” stood at $3.7 billion at the close of the 2025 fiscal year.
Beshear, a Democrat, signed on to a multi-state lawsuit filed Tuesday in Boston federal court asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which funds and administers SNAP, to use available contingency funds for November benefits.
Other states have taken similar actions. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who also signed onto the lawsuit this week, announced Friday he’d signed an emergency declaration and was making $5 million available for Feeding Pennsylvania food banks.
Kentucky and Pennsylvania each have a Democratic governor and Republican attorney general. Most states in the SNAP lawsuit were represented by their Democratic attorneys general.
This story was originally published October 31, 2025 at 5:43 PM.
