Amid ongoing uncertainty over federal funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, Gov. Katie Hobbs is directing another $1.8 million toward food assistance in the state.
Hobbs is allocating $1.5 million to support the state’s food banks, which have faced surging demand while funding for the nation's largest anti-hunger program is suspended during the ongoing federal government shutdown.
Hobbs is also adding $300,000 to Food Bucks Now, a new, temporary program offering $30 vouchers for some Arizona SNAP recipients to buy fresh produce from participating farmers markets or community grocery stores.
“It is appalling that the Trump administration is choosing to withhold food from vulnerable Arizona families, using them as leverage in their political games,” Hobbs said in a statement.
Arizona’s families are sick and tired of being used as leverage by Washington, DC politicians who don’t give a damn about the problems faced by them and their families.
— Governor Katie Hobbs (@GovernorHobbs) November 10, 2025
It’s time for President Trump to end his legal fight and ensure November SNAP benefits are paid in full. pic.twitter.com/r7xHqhnM93
Information about Food Bucks Now vouchers for Arizona SNAP recipients is at doubleupaz.org.
This is the second allocation of funding Hobbs has announced for food banks and Food Bucks Now vouchers during this government shutdown. She announced a first round of funding on Oct. 29. The money comes from pandemic-era federal aid.
Nearly 900,000 Arizonans — about one in eight people in the state — rely on SNAP. Hobbs said Arizona does not have the money to fill the gap that SNAP leaves. The program typically brings more than $155 million per month to the state.
In a statement on X, Hobbs said Arizonan SNAP recipients are feeling “whiplash and confusion” after the Trump administration on Friday briefly told states it would release SNAP funding, but then quickly reversed course and told states to not to pay out full food assistance.
The legal battle over whether the federal government must fully fund SNAP during the shutdown is ongoing.
The Trump administration has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to keep SNAP funds frozen during the federal government’s longest-ever shutdown.
A group of state attorneys general, including Arizona’s Kris Mayes, have asked federal courts to block the administration’s plan to claw back November SNAP funding that has been paid out to recipients in some states.
The Arizona Department of Economic Security, which administers SNAP in the state, did not immediately respond to questions about how many Arizonans received November benefits during the brief window on Friday when the Trump administration said it would release funding.
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Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs says she won’t give in to the Trump administration’s threat to withhold SNAP funding unless states hand over data about the program’s recipients. -
Kyle Wilkerson, program coordinator for air traffic control at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, joined The Show to talk more about how the shutdown affected Arizona controllers. -
The Trump administration is threatening to withhold SNAP funding from more than 20 states, including Arizona, that have refused to share data about residents who benefit from the food assistance program, citing privacy and concerns with how the federal government will use that information. -
In July, Congress removed homelessness as an exemption to work requirements under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The law took effect Nov. 1, with a three-month grace period. -
A Phoenix-area food bank says it has continued to see increased demand for help, even after the end of the government shutdown restored funding for federal food assistance.
