Brian Gornick, Staff Writer
Photo//USDA
Michigan families who were receiving extra food assistance benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic will no longer receive them due to a change in federal law.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) was created to help low-income families with weathering economic hardships during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, it is expected to end after next month.
While extra assistance benefits will be canceled after February of 2023, regular benefits will continue to be given out, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS).
A Michigan resident that has a net monthly income of $700 would originally have received $281 with normal assistance plus SNAP payments. With SNAP benefits being discontinued, that individual would now earn $71 in monthly assistance.
The MDHHS has advised Michigan families to “prepare and seek out any needed resources to accommodate this reduction to your benefits.”
Around 1.3 million Michiganders in over 700,000 households rely on SNAP benefits, in a MDHHS news release last year.