With enhanced pandemic-era cash assistance for food ending Feb. 28, the state Senate on Thursday approved legislation that would raise the minimum household benefit from $50 to $95 a month in New Jersey, sending it to Gov. Phil Murphy for his signature.
Lisa Pitz, director of the nonprofit Hunger Free New Jersey, said the emergency boost to federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program of a minimum of $95 per month has been a lifeline to low-income people, including senior citizens and people with disabilities. SNAP has injected $3 billion into the state’s economy since 2020, she said.
But the increase, arriving at a time when millions of people were laid off, was always meant to be temporary. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, which Congress passed in December, ended the emergency program. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden’s administration announced this week the federal COVID-19 public health emergency would end in May.