DC mayor agrees to give SNAP benefits additional funding

Mayor Muriel Bowser will give SNAP benefits additional funding, avoiding a showdown with the D.C. Council and a possible lawsuit.

About 140,000 people in the District receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance benefits, often called food stamps. Last March, families saw their benefits decrease after federal pandemic relief funding ran out.

To fill that gap, the D.C. Council passed legislation that requires the mayor to use about $38 million to increase those benefits by 10% for nine months if the District had a budget surplus. The District did end the last fiscal year with a surplus, but Bowser had not agreed to use the surplus for SNAP until Wednesday night.

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Sources: DC @MayorBowser tells local non profits she intends fund SNAP with additional surplus funds avoiding showdown with @councilofdc and possible lawsuit @nbcwashington

— Mark Segraves (@SegravesNBC4) January 4, 2024

News4’s Mark Segraves first broke this news on X, formerly known as Twitter.

D.C. Department of Human Services Director Laura Zeilinger confirmed the temporary increase, saying in part, "While fiscal and administrative pressures still exist, this evening I advised the mayor that DHS will make this program work while we attempt to solve ongoing challenges."

The decision comes after the organization Legal Aid DC informed the Bowser administration that it intended to file a lawsuit on Thursday if it failed to fund SNAP in compliance with D.C. law.

“It shouldn’t take a lawsuit for the mayor to follow a law the council unanimously passed and that she signed,” Legal Aid DC Executive Director Vikram Swaruup said.

Bowser has said there are more urgent needs for the money, such as housing. She said she shouldn’t have signed the law.

“The mayor can’t unilaterally by executive fiat decide that this law is not one she likes and she’s not going to implement,” Swaruup said.

Bowser said she gave in reluctantly.

“I really haven’t changed my mind,” she said. “I continue to be concerned about a budget maneuver that I think is not a good idea, but the Council has indicated by saying that they would sue us that they’re not interested in talking about alternatives. So if they’re not interested in talking about alternatives, than we have to move forward with that bad idea.”

Council Chairman Phil Mendelson said he’s pleased the controversy is behind him.

“The public sees the two branches of government fighting with each other,” he said. “The news organizations love to see this kind of controversy, and it’s not a good look for the District government. What the public really wants to see is the mayor and Council working together on important issues.”

“We have resolved this issue,” Mendelson said. “It’s time to move on to the next issue.”

The average monthly SNAP benefit is about $188, so the increase will be about $18 per month per person.

Legal Aid DC and others have raised concerns the administration won’t be able to ramp up the increase before the end of January, for which the law calls. Bowser said she is unsure if she can get the funds in people’s hands by the end of the month. Advocates say the end of the month is the toughest time for families on food stamps as they’ve used up their monthly benefits.