Vermont’s legislature and Gov. Phil Scott are to be commended for their bipartisan determination to fund SNAP benefits to those in need while the government shutdown continues into what is now its fifth week. Just over 67,000 Vermonters, or 10.3% of the state’s population, currently rely on SNAP (food stamps or what Vermonters know as 3SquaresVt) benefits.

In announcing that his administration would use state funds to provide supplemental food to those Vermonters in need, Scott said he “appreciate(d) the close collaboration my team has had with (Vermont) lawmakers to ensure Vermonters are protected in the face of Washington dysfunction.” 

But “dysfunction” is not an apt characterization of the problem. Rather, the government shutdown is a political standoff between Democrats, who are pressuring Republicans not to cut needed subsidies for health insurance plans that would impact over 22 million Americans, and Republicans who are refusing to honor such a pledge to reopen government. This is a disagreement of public policy and Democrats are using their only means to pressure Republicans to fund health care benefits.

The reality is stark: Under the current Republican budget proposal, reflected in Trump’s “big beautiful bill,” the health care subsidies will be cut. In Vermont, in particular, those subsidies are critically important for thousands of Vermonters because of the already high costs of health insurance.

If Democrats give in, there is little reason for Republicans to finance the health care plans that were originally created under the Affordable Care Act, a successful program and legacy of President Obama’s that Trump has worked hard to undermine. 

That’s the politics of the situation.

The reality is more pressing. 

According to the USDA Food and Nutrition Service, of the 67,743 Vermonters receiving SNAP benefits, 19,829 were children under 18; 12,274 were adults under 60 with disabilities, and 16,896 were age 60 and over. On average, about 8.0% of Vermont households were food insecure between 2020-2022. (Nationally, about 11.2% of American households are food insecure, with 4.3% of those considered “very low food insecurity.”)

In Vermont, about $10.88 million in SNAP benefits were issued each month in FY 2022. The average SNAP benefit per month was $161 per person. 

And the impact goes beyond just helping feed families. SNAP funds benefit famers, processors, distributors and retailers. Approximately 642 food retailers accept SNAP benefits in Vermont. When federal SNAP funds are nixed, all of those folks and operations are hurt.

SNAP benefits are typically fully funded by the federal government through the Department of Agriculture. Even though Trump has sought other avenues to provide benefits during the shutdown for farmers, the military, programs in Red states and much more, he has opted not to provide any funding for SNAP benefits after Nov. 1, 2025 while the government is shutdown. That’s true even though SNAP has an emergency contingency fund of about $6 billion (not quite enough to fund the program for the first 2-3 weeks of November) and trump could also fund it with other government funds, as he has with programs he likes.

Cutting SNAP funds is a political choice Trump has made to harm a program Democrats have long championed.

Historically, food stamps were first introduced in America in 1939 during the Great Depression, but didn’t become a continuing federal program until the Food Stamp Act of 1964. Since then it has evolved through a number of expansions and contractions including a wholescale revision in 2008. Under President Trump’s misnamed bill, SNAP benefits will be significantly cut as will the number of people who qualify for them. 

It follows what Trump represents: cuts for those Americans most in need, while lavish spending on those who support him.

Angelo Lynn