DHSS: February SNAP benefits arriving early, plan accordingly

Alaskan SNAP recipients will see early additions to the account on January 20th, as February benefits are added prematurely. This is the result of a United States Department of Agriculture workaround that will allow uninterrupted payouts through February, despite the ongoing government shutdown.

The USDA ran out of federal funding on December 21, 2018. At the time, January's SNAP benefits were already funded.

According to a statement from the USDA's Washington D.C. office: "USDA will rely on a provision of the just-expired Continuing Resolution (CR), which provides an appropriation for programs like SNAP and child Nutrition to incur obligations for program operations within 30 days of the CR’s expiration."

States had until January 20th to request and implement early SNAP payouts.

The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services has post a notification on the Division of Public Assistance web page, alerting recipients of the changes and urging SNAP recipients to budget through February accordingly.