NEWS BRIEF: Gov. Kemp ends pandemic food stamp benefits
Food hardships likely to rise
Food stamp recipients in Georgia will receive much less money each month starting in June due to a decision by Gov. Brian Kemp to stop a federal COVID emergency plan from providing 777,000 households additional funds for groceries.
Decreased allocations of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will affect families in different ways, SNAP executive Ellen Vollinger told GPB, “but it’s going to hit them all and it’s going to hit them hard.” The move also affects food banks already facing rising costs and demand. “This is going to cause a lot of additional strain for individuals and families,” said Ife Finch Floyd of the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute in Atlanta. “That may mean you’re buying less food because your other sources of income, your cash, might have to go to other things: rent, utilities, gas.” gpb.org