While Virginia’s Republican governor announced plans this week to continue SNAP benefits in November using state funding, North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein doesn’t have the power to make a similar move.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin plans to use his state’s revenue surplus to provide SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps, when federal funding runs out at the end of this week, Radio IQ reported. His plan is to allocate about $37.5 million per week to Virginia’s 850,000 recipients until the federal shutdown ends.
Asked whether Stein is considering a similar approach in North Carolina, a spokesperson for the governor would only say Tuesday that he’s “exploring all available options to find relief and prevent hunger in our state.”
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, which is part of Stein’s administration, said any effort to use state funding to continue SNAP would require action from the legislature.
“The monthly amount for SNAP in North Carolina ranges from $230 million to $250 million per month and finding the funding to cover benefits is extremely difficult,” an agency spokesperson said. “The governor’s office and NCDHHS do not have authority to cover the cost of SNAP without legislative appropriation.”
So far, Stein has not asked the legislature for funding, and lawmakers aren’t scheduled to return to Raleigh until Nov. 17 at the earliest. The governor does have the authority to call legislators back for a special session, but they wouldn’t be obligated to pass any spending requests at that time.
Asked if the “available options” Stein is considering might include a special session or a request to the legislature, spokeswoman Morgan Hopkins did not respond.
If legislative leaders were willing to follow Virginia’s lead, North Carolina does have plenty of reserve funding to cover short-term costs to maintain SNAP. According to the Office of State Controller, the state’s “rainy day fund” currently stands at $3.6 billion.
And in addition to that, North Carolina’s “unreserved cash balance” currently sits at $3.2 billion — due in part to the fact that lawmakers haven’t passed a new state budget bill in two years, and spending levels have largely remained at 2023 levels.
So far, instead of asking the legislature for money, DHHS officials joined Attorney General Jeff Jackson at a news conference Tuesday, where he announced a lawsuit against the federal government, asking courts to force the U.S. Department of Agriculture to use its $6 billion contingency reserve to keep SNAP operating amid the shutdown.
Legislative leaders have not supported the legal action against USDA, and Senate leader Phil Berger took to social media to criticize Jackson for filing the lawsuit. He advocated for pending legislation that would prevent the attorney general from suing the federal government over the president’s actions.
WUNC asked spokespeople for Berger and House Speaker Destin Hall if they’re considering allocating any state funding to maintain SNAP, and Berger responded with an emailed statement calling for congressional Democrats to end the shutdown.
“The quickest way to end all the impacts of the shutdown would be for the recalcitrant Democrats to stop holding the country hostage,” Berger said. “Instead of wasting taxpayer dollars on partisan lawsuits, Jeff Jackson should be calling on his fellow Democrats, including Chuck Schumer, to end the shutdown.”
A spokesperson for Hall did not respond to WUNC’s inquiry Wednesday.
For now, Stein is pushing the federal government to release its SNAP contingency funds rather than ask the state legislature to step in.
“More than 1.4 million North Carolinians rely on SNAP to put food on the table. As the government shutdown continues, the governor has urged the USDA to follow the law and deploy these emergency funds so that families don’t go hungry,” his spokesperson said in an email Tuesday.
