No stigma to the cards. Most states have community bias to snap cards. So even though a great many citizens qualify for snap benefits do not apply to receiving them in Maine a larger percentage of qualifying citizens actually get the benefit.
This radiates outward as well
food stamps, need to be applied for to get fuel assistance for an example, so some may need heating assistance then they must also accept food stamps, .... If you need city general assistance you must apply for food stamps. ECT ECT,
The SNAP funds for November may be available as soon as Friday, complying with U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell Jr.'s Thursday ruling. Funds often takes a week or more to be loaded onto debit cards once states initiate the process. It's not clear when exactly funds will be available to recipients.
The order came in response to a challenge from cities and nonprofits complaining that the administration was only offering to cover 65% of the maximum benefit, a decision that would have left some recipients getting nothing for this month.
Nearly 42 million people rely on the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps.
McConnell was one of two judges who ruled last week that the administration could not skip November’s benefits entirely because of the federal shutdown.
Shortly after the judges' rulings, lawyers for the Trump administration filed a motion to appeal, contesting both Thursday's decision and the earlier one last Saturday that ordered the federal government to use emergency reserves to fund the food program throughout November.
Vice President JD Vance told reporters the ruling was “absurd."
“What we’d like to do is for the Democrats to open up the government of course, then we can fund SNAP," Vance said at an unrelated White House event. "But in the midst of a shutdown, we can’t have a federal court telling the president how he has to triage the situation.”
This type of order is usually not subject to an appeal, but the Trump administration has challenged other rulings like it before.
“This unprecedented injunction makes a mockery of the separation of powers. Courts hold neither the power to appropriate nor the power to spend,” the U.S. Department of Justice wrote in its request to the court.
In response, attorneys for the cities and nonprofits challenging Trump's administration said the government has plenty of available money and the court should "not allow them to further delay getting vital food assistance to individuals and families who need it now