During the pause in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits funding, the City of Bowling Green, along with community members, have worked to alleviate the unease that has come with the federal government shutdown.
The United States (U.S.) Congress and President Donald Trump reached a deal on Wednesday, Nov. 12, ending the longest federal government shutdown in United States history. This means that SNAP payments are set to resume; however, it is yet to be seen when and how the benefits will be back and funded.
Jeff Dennis, council member at-large on the Bowling Green City Council, said the federal government is to blame for the confusion about when SNAP benefits will be back.
“I think oftentimes with the federal administration that we’ve got right now, they’re making these decisions that are impacting local governments and working families,” Dennis said. “They are not thinking through the full impact that these decisions are going to have and I think this is a great example of that. I think you’d be hard-pressed to find anybody who knows what is going on in Washington, and we’re seeing a lot of the downstream effects of that.”
Dennis also explained the significance of the pause in SNAP funding and the effect it has had on the Bowling Green community.
“Our community has a poverty rate of almost 30%. A lot of those are BGSU students, but among seniors over the age of 65, the poverty rate is over 12%. Among children under the age of 18, it’s 14.5%. There’s an immense need in our community all the time, and with the SNAP benefits and some of the cuts that we received from the state and local government, we’ve got kids that are going to school hungry. We’ve got seniors and working families that need to make tough decisions about whether they’re putting food on the table or paying their rent or utility bills,” Dennis said.
On Nov. 3, the Bowling Green City Council passed $50,000 of emergency food service funding, which goes directly to food banks and nonprofits that are assisting families in Bowling Green. Dennis said he hopes the funding distribution is quick and efficient.
“Doing this [emergency funding] as efficiently and as effectively as possible, I think it’s going to be really important,” Dennis said. “Over the last several weeks, during this government shutdown, a lot of our local food banks have been getting hit very hard. I think it’s very important that we get the money out the door and into the hands of the people that need it as quickly as possible.”
Dennis commended local businesses and schools for helping Bowling Green during this time.
“I’m thrilled that our local businesses are stepping up to fill that need,” Dennis said. “We’ve seen a lot of local businesses, such as Juniper and Sunset Bistro, that are really stepping up and offering free meals and trying to help out. We’ve had a ton of generous support for our students at our local elementary schools, which has really helped. Getting them the food and coats, hats, and gloves as the weather starts to get colder, that’s all great to see.”
However, Dennis said he and the rest of the city council need to keep looking at how the government can help during the SNAP benefit confusion.
“We need to be looking at how the government, whether that is certainly the federal government, the state government and even the local government, can really better support these families,” Dennis said.
