In less than a week, Arizonans who receive food stamps could go without because of the ongoing government shutdown. Gov. Katie Hobbs says the state is not in a position to intervene.
Nearly 900,000 individuals, including more than 367,000 children rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — or SNAP. And when it runs out later this week, Gov. Hobbs says the state likely won’t be able to help.
"Arizona doesn't have the capacity to backfill this. We've been very clear about that. We're looking for every way we can to mitigate. We're going to really count on our nonprofit social services to step up and be partners, helping fill some of those gaps," said Hobbs.
One such organization is nonprofit St. Mary’s Food Bank. Bank spokesperson Jerry Brown says the need was great before the shutdown.
"Now when you add in people missing paychecks due to the government shutdown and add in people who are missing SNAP benefits who don’t already come to the food bank, it’s just going to put more strain on the system that’s already pretty taxed," Brown said.
The average statewide benefit is $357 a month.
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