Canned goods on grocery store shelves. (Photo: Cami Koons/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has ordered the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services to provide $7 million to regional food banks and up to $18 million in emergency benefits to more than 63,000 low-income Ohioans.
DeWine’s order requires ODJFS to allocate $7 million to regional food banks that exploit Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds. The order requires ODJFS to double the monthly benefit for 63,000 state residents Ohio acts first recipients – including over 57,000 children.
Ohio Works First provides assistance to low-income families with children – at or below 50% of the federal poverty level – using TANF funds.
Ohio Works First recipients will receive their regular monthly benefits on Saturday plus an additional weekly benefit equal to one-fourth of their typical monthly allotment.
“While we will always do everything we can to support Ohioans most in need, this is not a viable, long-term solution,” DeWine said in a statement. “SNAP is a federal program that is specifically federally funded.”
Approximately 1.4 million Ohioans receive SNAP benefits and – reported the US Department of Agriculture Federal food aid will not be awarded on November 1 due to the government shutdown that began on October 1.
ODJFS spokesman Tom Betti said average SNAP benefits in Ohio are $190 per month. Ohioans must have net income on or below federal poverty guidelines — $32,150 a year for a family of four — to qualify for SNAP.
“Not every family will receive additional funding, but we want to specifically reach out to families that we thought were really desperate for money and help,” DeWine told reporters.
Food banks across Ohio have found that the need will exceed what they can handle without the distribution of SNAP benefits.
“Governor DeWine’s approach allows us to allocate resources through normal distribution channels – providing targeted support to families most in need, while also helping food banks that can reach people quickly and directly,” ODJFS Director Matt Damschroder said in a statement.
Ohio’s minority leaders in the House and Senate expressed gratitude while asking DeWine to take further action.
“I am grateful that some assistance will be provided to those in need, but this executive order is not enough to help,” he said Ohio House Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn, D-Cincinnati. “We are on the brink of crisis and the governor must do more.”
“While we are pleased that the Governor has taken steps to protect Ohio families who are caught up in the political debates taking place in Washington, they will not be enough to offset the potential funding gap,” said Senate Democratic Leader Nickie J. Antonio, D-Lakewood.
Ohio Democratic lawmakers are calling on DeWine to approve funding as federal food aid expires. DeWine’s spokesman, Dan Tierneystates, however, that there is no mechanism for direct state financing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program payments “regardless of the source of financing”.
“Ohio does not support the SNAP payment system,” Tierney said in an email. “We do not have access to this system to fund SNAP. Ohio’s role is to verify that recipients are eligible for SNAP and report that to the federal government.”
Ohio Republican lawmakers blame U.S. Senate Democrats. Democrats in Congress have refused to sign the funding bill unless Republicans agree to extend it subsidies for the purchase of health insurance on marketplaces established under the Affordable Care Act.
“The easiest and best way to help Ohioans in need of food assistance is for U.S. Senate Democrats to end their filibuster of SNAP benefits and other important federal programs and approve the House of Representatives continuing action resolution,” DeWine said in a statement.
Republican lawmakers in Ohio are making that argument, too should be solved for the federal level, not the state level.
“Everyone is on board on this,” says Senator Terry Johnson. R-McDermott, said during the last Senate session. “If you want to find a solution to this problem, you will find it at the federal level. This is not at the state level.”
State Rep. Latyna Humphrey of Columbia introduced Ohio House Bill 502 which would have provided funds through the Budget Stabilization Fund (also known as the “Rayy Day Fund”) to continue funding SNAP and certain other federal programs in the event of a pause in federal funding, but the bill was not considered.
“Ohio families are really going to be in crisis,” she said during a recent news conference. “We cannot stand idly by while families wonder how to put food on the table.”
The Ohio Senate Democratic Caucus sent a letter to DeWine asking him to exploit the state’s $3.9 billion “rainy day fund” to continue funding SNAP benefits for Ohioans, saying it would cost $263 million to fund SNAP benefits for one month.
“The sole purpose of the Budget Stabilization Fund is to support a previously enacted budget if state revenues decline as a result of an economic downturn,” Tierney said in an email. “The fund can only be accessed if the Ohio General Assembly passes appropriate legislation.”
Several other states – including Republican-led Iowa, Louisiana, Nevada, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia – also announced plans to support people losing SNAP benefits, according to the data. NBC News.
The Ohio House Democratic Caucus also sent a letter to DeWine asking him to declare a state of emergency and work with lawmakers to make sure food banks have enough resources to feed people.
Ohio Senator Kent Smith, D-Euclid proposed an amendment during the last session of the Ohio Senate that would have allowed the Ohio Budget Stabilization Fund to be used to fully fund the SNAP program during the lapse in federal funding and would have allowed the state to ask the federal government to repay those funds.
“These (SNAP) funds are vital drivers of our local economy, generating commerce in our grocery stores and neighborhood markets,” Smith said. “The loss of this purchasing power would cause significant harm not only to families but also to small businesses and workers.”
The amendment was rejected on a party-line vote.
“I very much support the idea in this amendment that we do need to restore SNAP funding, but unfortunately it is a very expensive endeavor,” said Ohio State Sen. Bill Blessing, R-Colerain Twp.
Ohio Senate Republicans argued there was no guarantee the state would receive reimbursement from the federal government.
“The potential damage to our budget from this could be devastating,” said Ohio State Sen. George Lang, R-West Chester.
Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Kirtland, called the SNAP amendment “appalling.”
“If Ohio and other states can follow our lead and fill the federal government, the only thing that will incentivize them is to stay closed because we will protect them whether we get reimbursed at some point or not,” he said. “…Do we want to encourage this kind of human behavior?”
The longest government shutdown occurred during Trump’s first term as president in 2019 and lasted 35 days.
Ohio Capital Journal reporters Marty Schladen and Susan Tebben contributed to this report.
Follow the OCJ reporter Megan Henry in Bluesky.
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