As the government shutdown enters its fifth week, state officials are scrambling to figure out how to keep the most vulnerable fed.
On Thursday, Governor Glenn Youngkin declared a state of emergency to provide hunger relief for people who qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Essentially, this allows the governor and his administration to look for unspent money and use it as stopgap funding, although details are sketchy.
"States like California and Colorado have sent funding to state food banks or regional food banks in their states, and California has mobilized its National Guard to help with food distribution," says Freddy Mejia at the Commonwealth Institute. "So, details are yet to emerge about what Virginia in particular might do, but some of these options may give us a clue about what state leaders are thinking about."
Cassie Edner at the Virginia Poverty Law Center says regardless of how much unspent money the governor finds, the United States Department of Agriculture needs to tap into its contingency fund.
"We don't know how much Virginia is willing to step up. If they are willing to step up for a week, two weeks, a month, two months," Edner says. "It's still important that the USDA acts to do what they are legally required to do by providing SNAP benefits."
One out of every 11 people who live in Virginia are helped by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — that’s hundreds of thousands of children and seniors.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
