If fed govt reopens, SNAP clinics to close Friday

With the expectation that the federal government shutdown will end, Health and Human Services Commissioner Lori Weaver said the extra food clinics the state opened to support recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will close this Friday.

If fed govt reopens, SNAP food clinics to close Friday

Gov. Kelly Ayotte credited state agency officials and the New Hampshire Food Bank with creating a $2 million contingency to get free food to those on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) whose benefits had run out on Nov. 1.

“We always have the food pantries and those will continue, but we scale back to what we had prior to this shutdown,” Weaver told the Executive Council.

Gov. Kelly Ayotte credited the state agency for working with the New Hampshire Food Bank and its 400 partners to quickly set up this free food distribution once it appeared SNAP funding had ended on Nov. 1.

“I’ve talked with other governors and we were able to move faster than most states in standing this program up,” Ayotte told reporters.

The agency also worked late last week to ensure New Hampshire was one of about 20 states where SNAP recipients received their full November allotment on their electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards last Saturday, Weaver said.

As for the shutdown, Ayotte, a former U.S. senator, urged Congress to approve a full year’s federal budget before the end of January when this continuing resolution will end.

U.S. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan, both D-N.H., were two of eight senators who split from the Democratic leadership to approve the shutdown deal in the Senate.

“I am glad New Hampshire is at the forefront of getting this resolved,” Ayotte said, adding in her six years in the Senate that she had one of the most bipartisan voting records.

Later she added, “We just can’t shut this government down again; this has gone on for way too long.”

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