The State of New Mexico will provide $30 million starting Nov. 1 in an emergency response to counter the pending stop of federal food assistance for the first 10 days of the month, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced on Wednesday.
The state plan follows the United States Department of Agriculture’s recent announcement that it would stop funding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program at the end of October due to the ongoing federal shutdown. The agency then rebuffed requests from members of Congress—including New Mexico’s delegation—to use contingency funds to guarantee no pause in SNAP benefits.
The money comes from state emergency funds replenished during the Oct. 1 special session when lawmakers added $30 million to the state’s contingency fund, which the governor can spend down without needing legislative approval for disaster declarations. In this case, the governor is issuing 40 executive orders authorizing $750,000 each—the maximum allowed under state law—to provide $30 million that the state’s Health Care Authority will distribute onto existing EBT cards for SNAP-eligible New Mexicans starting on Nov. 1.
The state has the highest SNAP participation in the U.S.: 460,000 New Mexico residents, or 21% of the population, and typically receives from the federal government—the state says—$80 to $90 million monthly in SNAP benefits.
In announcing the emergency funding during a news conference at John Brooks Supermarket in Albuquerque alongside state officials, lawmakers, food bank leaders and farmers, Lujan Grisham credited the state Legislature during a recent special legislative session for setting aside funds to compensate for federal shortfall.
“They came to work,” she said, “the opposite of a shutdown. They’re doing their job every single day, and Republicans in Congress should do their damn job in the same way that our legislators, bipartisan, are standing up for New Mexicans.”
NM House Speaker Javier Martínez (D-Albuquerque) called the denial of SNAP disbursements a “manufactured crisis” by the Trump Administration during the news conference.
“Trump has the ability to fund SNAP through money that’s already been appropriated, they’re choosing not to,” Martínez said. “What they’re telling the American people and what they’re telling New Mexicans is that they have to choose between their health care or putting food on the table.”
Members of New Mexico’s all-Democratic congressional delegation this week introduced legislation that would require USDA to continue funding SNAP.
The governor said state officials are evaluating options for addressing needs after Nov. 10 and said another special legislative session is one of the options. She also acknowledged the possibility that the USDA could reverse its position and release funding.
The funding is intended to act as a “bridge,” HCA Secretary Kari Armijo said during the news conference, to cover approximately 30% of residents’ benefit for November; the elderly and disabled recipients will receive at least $100. Armijo said the agency “will be sending a lot of messages out to our customers in the next couple of days, making sure that they understand what they’ll see on those EBT cards.”
Armijo told Source NM after the news conference that EBT cards will work the same way as they have.
“When people swipe their SNAP card, it draws against an account, typically that’s the federal account, but they’re going to draw against the state’s account” for the first 10 days in November.
Armijo said the state is setting aside a small portion of the $30 million in funds for people with the greatest need — but that other SNAP applications will likely be processed in December or after the reopening of the federal government.
The state will also continue to accept SNAP applications, and partner with food banks, schools and other organizations, a news release from the governor’s office said.
“We have all worked together with our Legislature, with the governor’s office, for years, to build this incredible system of support for New Mexicans,” The Food Depot Executive Director Jill Dixon, who also serves as president of the New Mexico Association of Food Banks, said during the news conference. “And gosh, my heart is racing. This is the best day I’ve had in weeks. New Mexicans rise together. We take care of each other. We believe in community and reaching out to one another when times are really hard. I’ve seen that again and again in 13 years of food banking, but I have never seen a day like today.”
By Danielle Prokop and Julia Goldberg, Source New Mexico
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