More than 140,000 D.C. residents receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits will begin receiving additional food benefits next month.
Last March, households experienced a reduction in benefits after federal pandemic relief funds dried up. To close this gap, the D.C. Council passed a bill that would require the mayor to use approximately $38 million to increase these benefits by 10% for nine months if the school district has a budget surplus. Did. Although the district did end the last fiscal year in the black, Mayor Muriel Bowser initially had to use its surplus funds from SNAP (commonly known as food stamps) until just before Legal Aid DC was scheduled to file a lawsuit against the city. ) did not consent to its use. Comply with the law.
Now, the Bowser administration has announced that the increased payments will begin in February and be retroactive to January. The additional amount for January and his February will appear on his EBT card for his SNAP recipient on February 23rd.
Bowser said there are more immediate financial needs, such as housing. She should not have signed the law, she said.
The average monthly SNAP benefit is about $188, so the increase would be about $18 per person per month.
