SEATTLE — Washington leaders said the state could soon face a food crisis, due to emergency federal funding for snap benefits ending. House Bill 1784 in the Washington Legislature is aimed at alleviating the impacts of that federal funding going away.
Food assistance is something Brian Clark has been receiving for more than ten years but is something he never thought he would end up needing.
"I always had a job and provided for myself,” said Clark, who lives in King County.
But after being the victim of a violent crime, Clark said he sustained injuries that forced him to receive disability income and SNAP benefits, formerly known as food stamps, due to not being able to work anymore. Due to emergency pandemic funding issued to SNAP recipients over the past two years, Clark has been receiving more money for food each month through emergency allotments. He said before this increase, he was not receiving enough money for food and was having to dip into his disability income to make ends meet.
“For the past two years, I've actually been able to eat three meals per day without a struggle,” said Clark.
More than 520,000 households in Washington state receive basic food benefits. On average, each household has been receiving an additional $171 dollars each month as an emergency allotment during the pandemic. But that additional money ends this month. Clark's food benefits will plummet more than 50%, but others will endure steeper decreases.
Due to the sudden hardship, places like Northwest Harvest's Sodo Community Market are expecting more customers to walk in starting next month.
“We actually see the end of February to be something like a hunger cliff,” said Northwest Harvest CEO Thomas Reynolds when speaking of federal funding emergency allotments ending and the current high food prices.
Reynolds said this comes as food pantries are facing low food supplies while dealing with an already increased need. He said right now inventory at Northwest Harvest is down 80% compared to this time last year. This is due to multiple reasons, including inflation and supply chain issues. Northwest Harvest supplies food to more than 400 food pantries across Washington.
“Food banks are reporting to us that they're seeing between 30% and 100% more people participating in their food programs,” said Reynolds.
Reynolds is hoping House Bill 1784 will pass in the Washington Legislature.
“The pandemic may be over for many, but it's definitely not for a lot of our families,” said Democratic Representative Mia Gregerson of King County, who sponsored the bill.
Gregerson says the next budget cycle does not start until July, so this early action bill would give $28 million to state agencies that help fund food programs, two months early. The goal is to help offset the loss of emergency federal funding families have been receiving each month.
“We just can't wait. You know, people are hungry every 3 hours. This is really about human suffering and getting ahead of that,” said Gregerson.
The bill will be discussed in an Executive Session for the House Committee on Appropriations on Thursday in Olympia.