Judges Order SNAP Benefits Must Continue: What It Means For IL

A day before nearly 2 million Illinois residents were poised to lose food benefits amid the ongoing government shutdown, two federal judges on Friday ordered that the Trump administration must pull from contingency funds to keep SNAP running amid the government shutdown, the Associated Press is reporting.

The judges in Massachusetts and Rhode Island said the administration can determine on whether to fund the program partially or in full for November, AP reports.

The rulings came a day before the U.S. Department of Agriculture planned to freeze Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program payments.

It wasn't immediately clear how quickly the debit cards beneficiaries use to buy groceries can be reloaded after the ruling, a process that often takes one to two weeks.

In an effort to keep Illinoisans fed, on Thursday, Gov. JB Pritzker signed an executive order to send $20 million in state emergency funds to food banks in the state. It's unclear if those funds will still be distributed to Illinois food banks.

The funding from the executive order was set to support seven food banks that supply more than 2,600 food pantries statewide, according to a release. One in five Chicago area households experiences food insecurity, the Greater Chicago Food Depository estimates.

The analysis of USDA Food and Nutrition Service data by the non-partisan research group that focuses on federal and state policies to reduce poverty and inequality also shows that 1,935,600 Illinois residents, that’s 15 percent of the state population (1 in 7), depend on benefits to keep food on the table.

According to the data, more than 60 percent of SNAP participants in Illinois are families with children, and 33 percent have family members who are elderly or disabled. In the fiscal year 2022, most Illinois SNAP participants have incomes below the poverty line, according to the data.
In 2024, participants in Illinois received $4.47 billion in benefits, averaging approximately $192 for each household member per month.

The shutdown, which began Oct. 1, is now the second-longest on record.

This is a developing story.