Sponsors (3)
The bill prioritizes uninterrupted SNAP/WIC benefits and prevents interruptions for low-income households during USDA funding gaps, but does so by shifting fiscal and administrative risks onto taxpayers, federal budgeting processes, and state/tribal governments.
Low-income individuals, families, pregnant women, infants, and young children will continue receiving SNAP and WIC nutrition benefits without interruption during USDA appropriations gaps, reducing immediate food insecurity.
People who rely on EBT cards avoid sudden loss of purchasing power because the bill prevents deactivation or participation restrictions and requires benefits to be loaded immediately.
State agencies administering SNAP/WIC must continue processing and approving eligible applications, preventing enrollment freezes, waiting lists, or other sudden participation restrictions that would block access.
Taxpayers could face unplanned near-term federal outlays because the bill mandates obligation or continuation of SNAP/WIC spending during appropriations lapses without a contemporaneous appropriation vote.
The bill may reduce congressional leverage to negotiate appropriations (by guaranteeing program continuity during lapses), which could encourage less timely passage of USDA funding bills.
Requiring automatic or immediate funding continuity can create budgetary planning uncertainty and oversight challenges for USDA because emergency amounts may be open-ended.
Based on analysis of 5 sections of legislative text.
Requires USDA to ensure SNAP and WIC benefits, EBT operations, and application processing continue during USDA appropriations gaps and to reimburse states/tribes for emergency payments.
Introduced October 28, 2025 by Melanie Ann Stansbury · Last progress October 28, 2025
Requires the USDA to keep SNAP and WIC benefits flowing and EBT systems functioning when Congress has not enacted interim or full-year appropriations for the Department of Agriculture, starting in fiscal year 2026. It directs the Secretary to obligate and make available necessary funds, bars federal or state officials from delaying applications or imposing enrollment freezes due to funding delays, and reimburses states and federally recognized tribes for emergency payments they made to cover gaps.