Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity says she wants to loan the state money to help it cover November food-stamp benefits for nearly 2 million residents, who expect to lose the support during the federal government shutdown. But Gov. Josh Shapiro's office says the proposal would be unworkable, thanks to Trump administration policy.
The proposal would require Shapiro — who Garrity is likely to compete against in next year's gubernatorial election — to accept the loan from her office, at a time when Democrats and Republicans are at odds at the state and federal level. But Garrity maintains that such partisan considerations shouldn't be a factor.
"While we may differ in our perception of the cause or blame for the federal government shutdown, I believe we can work together on a solution to mitigate the impact here in Pennsylvania," Garrity said in a Wednesday letter that proposed the arrangement to Shapiro.
About 15% of residents across the state — including more than 160,000 residents in Allegheny County — are enrolled in the federally-funded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Under Garrity's proposal, the state Treasury would loan $368 million to the state Department of Human Services, which administers SNAP. The department would then send money to the state's electronic benefits contractor, who would transfer the funds to the debit cards of food-stamp enrollees.
"This solution offers a way to give vulnerable Pennsylvanians who rely on SNAP peace of mind that their families will not go hungry during these times of financial insecurity," Garrity's letter continues.
Garrity said she had sent the letter to Shapiro's office on Wednesday morning, but had not spoken to the governor by the time of the press conference she held that afternoon. Harrisburg Democrats have accused Garrity of issuing other loans during the state budget delay to enhance her campaign. But she told reporters Wednesday that the loan offer wasn't a stunt to score political points for next year's race.
" I'm just trying to do my job. I think I have a responsibility to help Pennsylvanians," Garrity said. "If I was playing politics, I'd probably sit back and let everybody continue to fight, but I think that we should always put Pennsylvanians before politics."
Some states are covering the cost of missing SNAP funds without loaning themselves the money. In Louisiana, Gov. Jeff Landry ordered the state health department to cover missing payments. But without a state budget in place, Pennsylvania is in a unique position. (State Senate Democrats on Tuesday proposed offering $50 million to food banks while the budget is still being worked out.)
In a statement, Shapiro's office said he had already taken steps to protect food-stamp benefits, when he joined a multi-state federal lawsuit on Tuesday to require the federal government to continue paying for food assistance. A Shapiro spokesperson said Garrity's proposal is "not workable" because even when the federal shutdown ends, the U.S. Department of Agriculture will not repay money used to cover missing benefits payments.
"Governor Shapiro is deeply concerned about 2 two million Pennsylvanians who will lose their access to critical federal food assistance if the federal shutdown continues past Saturday," said the spokesperson, Rosie Lapowsky. "That's why he took legal action yesterday to require USDA to use billions in available, Congressionally-appropriated contingency funds to pay for November SNAP benefits."
"The USDA has said publicly that states will not be reimbursed for any funds spent covering the cost of benefits," she added, pointing to a recent memo from the agriculture department. "Governor Shapiro will not jeopardize the Commonwealth's fiscal standing because Republicans in Congress cannot pass a budget."
Garrity's proposal is similar to a program she rolled out last month to help social service agencies that are missing out on nearly four months of payments due to the state budget impasse.
As of this week, 48 organizations have received a total of $21.3 million in loans under the program, and at least four counties have applied for the aid, according to the Treasurer's office. (A spokesperson said he wouldn't name counties until their applications are approved.) Most of the beneficiaries are early-education programs — but a network of nearly 50 rape crisis centers also received a loan.
Megan McConahy, executive director of AWARE, which operates domestic violence and rape crisis centers in Mercer County, said the treasury's loan will allow it to operate through November. The Pennsylvania Coalition to Advance Respect, the statewide alliance of crisis centers, borrowed $3 million to distribute among its members and agreed to take on interest payments.
"It was a big blessing for us," McConahy said.
As with the treasury's "budget bridge" program, accepting a loan to cover SNAP payments would incur interest, though Garrity said she's hopeful lawmakers will approve a measure to make it interest-free. Earlier this month, the GOP-controlled Senate passed a bill to waive interest on treasury loans to early-education providers and rape crisis centers. It has yet to be taken up in the Democratic-led House Appropriations committee.
Garrity said there's enough money on hand to cover additional months of SNAP payments should the federal shutdown continue into December.
But, she said, "The hope would be that we would only need it for one month."
Read more from our partners at WESA.