The House Human Services Committee heard Thursday that the state will cover the first 15 days of November Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits after the U.S. Department of Agriculture directed states to suppress November payments.

Miranda Gray, deputy commissioner for the Economic Services Division at the Agency of Human Services, told the committee the agency presented a plan to the Emergency Board and that the board approved short-term state funding to cover the first 15 days of November benefits and authorized a $250,000 distribution to the Vermont Food Bank for local food shelves. Gray said the agency will use automated phone calls, mail and planned text messages to notify recipients as quickly as possible.

The action responds to a series of USDA notices that required Vermont to suppress November benefits; agency staff said their eligibility IT is archaic and required special programming to suppress payments for Nov. 1. Gray said the state intends to put the short-term payments in place as quickly as possible and estimated that the state-funded payment might be delivered around Nov. 7 if federal systems remain closed longer.

Gray told the committee the state consulted federal guidance about one-time, nonrecurring state payments and plans to document the assistance for federal reviewers so the short-term payment can be treated as an excluded one-time payment when federal certification resumes. "We will state fund the first 15 days of November," Gray said. "We also were able to give the Vermont Food Bank $250,000, which they will be sending out to the local food shelves, to be able to purchase more food."

Committee members asked whether recipients would face a double payment if the federal government reopens while the 15-day state payment is still in effect. Agency staff said one-time state payments can be excluded from income calculations when properly documented and that the agency will follow federal reporting guidance to avoid creating an adverse income calculation for households.

The agency said it scheduled a contingency Emergency Board meeting for Nov. 13 to revisit the plan if the federal government has not restored benefits by that date.

Emergency Board action recorded in the committee presentation did not include mover/second or a roll-call tally in the committee transcript; committee staff said the board approved the plan during its meeting the previous day. The committee asked the agency to coordinate rapid public communications with the Vermont Food Bank and local partners so food shelves can prepare for increased demand in the early days of November.