HARRISBURG – PA First Lady Lori Shapiro visited the Central PA Food Bank to bring awareness to upcoming federal changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP and encourage continued support for PA’s food banks.The First Lady’s visit comes a week before the first of two changes that will impact PA’s 1.9 million SNAP recipients. Starting in March, SNAP recipients will no longer receive the Emergency Allotment additional payment created during the COVID-19 emergency and will resume receiving just one SNAP payment per month. Additionally, the 2023 cost of living adjustment for Social Security Income, which is set by the federal government, prompted an 8.7% increase to income. SNAP eligibility thresholds – also set at the federal level – did not rise proportionally. Because of this, about 249,000 households will experience a decrease in their base SNAP benefits by an average of $40 per household, which will also take effect in March. About 5,000 to 20,000 households will be dis-enrolled from SNAP altogether due to the Social Security increase. The federal reductions will primarily affect older Pennsylvanians. The PA Department of Human Services has mailed each SNAP recipient a letter detailing what is changing.
