February food stamps are coming early to Alabama residents.
The ongoing partial federal government shutdown is not allowing for funding of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, commonly referred to as food stamps, after this coming Sunday. As a result, all money for February SNAP benefits is being sent to SNAP recipients by this weekend.
Alabama residents will still be able to apply for SNAP benefits, and if someone needs to be re-certified for January aid, they can do so and receive both January and February benefits by this coming weekend.
Barry Spear is the Public Information Manager for the Alabama Department of Human Resources. He says there's one key thing to keep in mind about this early benefit payout:
“It’s important for people to know that these are early benefits; they’re not extra benefits. These are the benefits that you would normally get during the month of February, but you’re getting them early, and they need to last through the end of February because there won’t be any other benefits issued for the month.”
Benefits automatically load onto recipients' electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards.
At over 26 days as of publication, the current partial federal government shutdown has broken the record for the longest ever.