Food benefits

Most other states have expanded limits on the value of savings and assets people can own and still get food stamps.

As some states wrap up this year’s summer food aid program, Missouri is still distributing last year’s benefits for children. The state also declined tens of millions in federal aid for low-income kids in part because officials lacked confidence they could disperse those benefits by the deadline.

During the pandemic, SNAP rules were relaxed so students weren’t required to participate in state or federally funded work programs such as work-study. Those temporary pandemic rules allowed 3 million more students to qualify for food stamps, but now many are no longer eligible.

Transition benefits gradually reduce the amount of benefits someone gets from things like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) as their income rises. The measure is seen as a way to incentivize people to earn more money working, without falling off the so-called benefit cliff.

The state said this week it will not participate in a federal program that would provide $120 in benefits to each eligible child, citing administrative hurdles. The decision sparked anger from Missouri parents, who say that officials "basically just robbed us."

Religious pilgrims have been visiting a monastery north of Kansas City to see the well-preserved remains of an exhumed nun, who is drawing claims of sainthood because of her “incorrupt” body. Plus: Congress made SNAP work requirements stricter, shortly after Kansas made similar changes.

Congress expanded work requirements for food assistance during the debt ceiling negotiations, a move that would normally happen in the Farm Bill. Shortly before that, the state of Kansas made similar changes.

A lot of people don't think twice about buying milk, says Teresa Calderez. "But there are lots of us out here who can't buy a gallon of milk when we need it."

While food prices won’t rise as sharply in 2023, they could still increase about 8% over last year’s rates, according to forecasts from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The lawsuit alleges Missouri is wrongly depriving thousands of low-income residents access to food assistance and violating federal SNAP rules. It also argues that the state’s overburdened call center particularly affects those with disabilities.

Thousands of other Missouri families are waiting for benefits called summer Pandemic EBT, a federal program administered by states that provides a one-time deposit of $391 in grocery benefits for each eligible child. Compared to every other surrounding state, Missouri’s delays have been especially unusual.

Despite a federal lawsuit, callers to Missouri's hotline handling SNAP benefits waited on hold an average of an hour and a half in August before being connected to agents.