Virginia’s state-run food assistance program ends as partial SNAP benefits are set to return

Virginians who receive federal food assistance will experience a delay and reduction in benefits this month as the state transitions away from its temporary assistance program and back into the federally funded program known as SNAP.

SNAP, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, was initially frozen for the month of November due to the federal government shutdown. After weeks of uncertainty regarding if, when and how the program would be funded, Virginia announced Sunday it will receive federal dollars to issue 65% of its typical monthly SNAP benefits for November. 

The governor’s office announced in a press release that those partial benefits will be distributed to the more than 850,000 Virginians enrolled in SNAP by Thursday. 

The state also announced Sunday that its temporary aid program, called Virginia Emergency Nutrition Assistance, or VENA, will be immediately paused “to ensure full compliance with federal requirements.” 

When the state launched VENA on Nov. 3, it became the first in the nation to fill the gap left behind by frozen SNAP benefits. The state-supported effort, distinct from SNAP and covered by state budget surplus, was set to issue an equivalent of 25% of monthly SNAP benefits to recipients each week of November that federal funds weren’t available.

The first round of VENA payments was distributed on Monday, Wednesday and Friday last week, depending on recipients’ last names. Those recipients were expecting a second installment this week but will have to find other ways to make ends meet until SNAP benefits hit cards on Thursday, said Emily Moore, senior policy analyst at Voices for Virginia’s Children, an independent policy and advocacy organization.

Recipients will also be budgeting with fewer overall benefits, Moore said: The 25% in VENA and 65% in SNAP will leave recipients 10% short of what they typically receive in a month. 

The ensuing landscape is nothing short of “chaos,” Moore wrote in an emailed statement.

“For weeks, families have been yanked back and forth about if and when they would receive critical food assistance,” she said. “Now the ground has shifted yet again.”

The governor’s Sunday press release doesn’t specify which “federal requirements” caused the end of VENA. The governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment regarding the requirements. 

Many states are pointing to a recent memo from the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a source of compliance concerns, said Theresa Lau, senior policy counsel for the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The memo, issued Saturday, said states “can only process and load the partial issuance” of 65% of SNAP benefits and deemed full SNAP payments as “unauthorized.”

“Failure to comply with this memorandum may result in USDA taking various actions, including cancellation of the Federal share of State administrative costs and holding States liable for any overissuances that result from the noncompliance,” the memo further reads.

It is unclear if the directive applies to states, like Virginia, that used their own funds to issue food assistance in addition to those that relied on federal money entirely, the Associated Press reported Sunday. Lau agrees that the messaging is confusing. 

“It’s not very clear, and I think that a lot of states are worried about that,” Lau said. “The back-and-forth confusing guidance and whiplash has made a very difficult space for states trying to ensure people have their basic needs met.”

The SPLC’s ask right now, Lau said, is that the USDA hold harmless the states navigating the changing guidance and fully fund SNAP with contingency and reserve funds.

The “whiplash” Lau describes evolved over the past week, starting when two federal judges separately ordered the Trump administration to keep SNAP money flowing during the government shutdown. The administration agreed it would use an emergency reserve fund to provide partial benefits in November, then a judge on Thursday ordered that other funds be used to make full benefit payments. On Friday, at least a dozen states — including California, Oregon, Wisconsin, Kansas, Connecticut and Massachusetts — began issuing full monthly SNAP benefits to all or some recipients, according to Saturday reporting from the AP. 

Also on Friday, the Trump administration appealed the court’s order to issue full benefits, and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson temporarily paused the order while the appeals court considered the administration’s request. 

The First Circuit Court of Appeals left the order for full benefit payments in place Sunday, according to the AP. The Trump administration has appealed again to the Supreme Court, and Jackson’s temporary hold remains active. 

Until the Supreme Court makes a final decision — likely Tuesday, the AP has reported — and the USDA issues resulting guidance, the fate of SNAP will be up in the air, Lau said.

In the meantime, Lau said, states should brace until the government reopens and SNAP is funded without the need for court orders. 

The Virginia Department of Social Services’ webpage that once hosted VENA information now reads that the office “continues to monitor rapidly changing federal action” and that the webpage “will be updated once official guidance is issued.” 

A statewide food drive launched Tuesday will continue, according to the governor’s release. The campaign, called the Virginia Cares Initiative, connects residents with the food bank in their region and provides them with a list of high-demand food items, drop-off locations and open hours to make donating straightforward. Enrollment is open on the Virginia Cares Initiative website.