Maine joins lawsuit to force Trump to release emergency food stamp funds
By Christopher Burns, Bangor Daily News Staff
Maine is joining a multi-state lawsuit to compel the Trump administration to release billions in emergency funds to keep food aid flowing to low-income Americans.
In the 51-page lawsuit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, Attorney General Aaron Frey and the attorneys general from 21 states and the District of Columbia, as well as the governors of three states, argue that Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins is legally required to keep the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, popularly referred to as “food stamps,” funded despite the weeks-old government shutdown.
This year an average of 174,147 Mainers received the benefit every month, including 59,209 children and 40,235 older adults. More than a third of recipients have a disability.
In four Maine counties — Androscoggin, Aroostook, Piscataquis, Somerset and Washington — about a fifth of their residents rely on the anti-hunger program.
The average monthly household benefit is $296.
“It is unconscionably cruel and unlawful. My colleagues and I are going to court to insist that the Trump Administration follow the law and use the funds Congress appropriated to ensure SNAP can continue through the shutdown,” Frey said in a Tuesday statement.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture warned Maine and other states that benefits won’t be paid out under the program beginning Nov. 1, saying that Congress has failed to provide appropriations to keep it and other programs running.
But the attorneys general argue that the Trump administration has as much as $6 billion in a “contingency” fund set aside by Congress to keep the program funded, as well another $23 billion fund that the USDA tapped earlier this month to bolster the Women, Infants and Children food aid program for October despite the shutdown.
This week, the Trump administration said it would not use the contingency funds to keep the anti-hunger program afloat in November.
If nothing changes, this will be the first time that the benefits have been delayed in the program’s history, according to the lawsuit.
The attorneys general called the refusal to release the funds “contrary to the law” and “arbitrary and capricious” under the Administrative Procedure Act. Further, they argue that the federal government is required to keep SNAP funded for whomever legally qualifies for it because it is considered an entitlement program and not discretionary spending.
Additionally, the lawsuit contends that SNAP boosts local economies, generating $1.54 in economic activity for every tax dollar invested. In Maine, that economic impact totals $29 million, according to the attorney general’s office.
The Maine Department of Health and Human Services has said that any interruption in November’s SNAP funding won’t affect benefits already loaded onto an EBT card but not used before November. DHHS will continue to accept and process applications, renewals and other updates during the shutdown.
The agency noted that this change affects food stamp recipients nationwide and cannot be appealed.
Gov. Janet Mills is talking with state lawmakers about alternatives to help Mainers who rely on SNAP to keep their cupboards stocked.
The attorneys general are asking a judge to deem the Trump administration’s move to suspend November’s SNAP benefits an illegal use of discretion and to make the benefits available and to prevent the administration from going ahead with the suspension.
In the lawsuit, Maine is joining the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin, as well as the governors of Kansas, Kentucky and Pennsylvania.