Maryland’s Governor Hogan announced this week that the state of emergency that has been in place since March 2020 will be lifted as of July 1. While that means that there’s no longer a need for all those masks and the social distancing it does also mean that changes are in the offing to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which we all still know as food stamps.
Each month in the past year the state of Maryland has been submitting a request for a SNAP Emergency Allotment which allows all recipients to receive the full amount of food stamps for their household regardless of their income and expenses. In June, as has been the case each month, that request was approved as the state was able to show that it met at least one of the required criteria. In July, when the state of emergency will have been lifted, there is a chance that either a request for the allotment will not be submitted, or the request may be denied. If the emergency allotment is no longer in place we’ll be back to pre-pandemic times where household income and expenses will determine exactly how much you’ll receive in food stamps each month. For the moment, though, the DHS website is recording that food stamp redeterminations won’t be starting up again until September this year. While it’s likely that that won’ be brought forward, there’s little chance of those dates being extended as has been the case until now.
In good news for some beneficiaries, earlier this month DHS issued an action transmittal stating that certain families in six counties will be receiving an extra $30 a month throughout the summer months so as to ensure that the children in the families are taken care of when not in school. Those selected will also receive an extra $10 in December to cover the school break that month.
To see the transmittal in full you can go here: https://dhs.maryland.gov/documents/FIA/Action%20Transmittals/AT2021/21-22%20IM%20-%20SUMMER%20SNAP%20PROGRAM.pdf