New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has declared a state of emergency due to the potential stoppage of SNAP benefits amid the ongoing government shutdown.

“The Trump Administration would rather starve children and families than lift a finger to help them put food on the table,” Hochul said.

“I’m declaring a State of Emergency to use every tool we have to help the three million New Yorkers losing food assistance because of the GOP shutdown,” she added.

More from the New York Post:

An additional $65 million will be freed up to go to food pantries, soup kitchens and other emergency food providers across the state as the federal shutdown reached 30 days, Hochul announced at a food bank in Harlem.

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“We’re not going to be passive observers to this,” she said, blaming Republicans in Washington for the stalemate that led to the looming freeze on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

“They said there’s nothing we can do. I’m not buying that,” Hochul said.

Democrats in the US Senate have been stonewalling temporary spending measures, demanding that Republicans negotiate on restoring subsidies to help defray the cost of Obamacare health premiums.

NBC New York shared:

Some other states have rolled out similar assistance efforts. About one in eight Americans buy groceries with SNAP benefits. A halt to SNAP benefits would leave a gaping hole in the country’s safety net.

Earlier this week, New York and 24 other states sued the Trump administration, demanding the release of emergency SNAP funds. Here’s a look at what would happen if that doesn’t happen.

Tuesday’s legal filing from attorneys general from 22 states and the District of Columbia, plus three governors, focuses on a federal contingency fund with roughly $5 billion in it – enough to pay for the benefits for more than half a month.

President Donald Trump’s Department of Agriculture said in September that its plan for a shutdown included using the money to keep SNAP running. But in a memo last week, it said that it couldn’t legally use that money for such a purpose.

The Democratic officials contend the administration is legally required to keep benefits going as long as it has funding.

The agency said debit cards beneficiaries use as part of SNAP to buy groceries will not be reloaded as of Nov. 1.

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With their own coalition, 19 Republican state attorneys general sent Democratic U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer a letter Tuesday urging passage of a “clean continuing resolution” to keep funding SNAP benefits.

FOX 5 New York provided additional coverage:

 

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