By Liv Caputo, Florida Phoenix
Gov. Ron DeSantis doesn’t think Florida Democrats should tell him about their fears of low-income Floridians losing access to food benefits.
Instead, DeSantis wants them to write their concerns to Chuck Schumer, the U.S. Senate Democratic Leader from New York.
“Did those Democrats write a letter to Chuck Schumer asking him to stop filibustering the spending?” DeSantis asked brusquely at a Tampa press conference on Wednesday.
“Come on.”
He was responding to a reporter’s request for comment on a letter penned Tuesday by the Florida Legislature’s Democratic delegation imploring he use his emergency powers to ensure that three million Floridians who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — a federal food assistance program — don’t go hungry.
The Democrats were hoping the governor would declare a state of emergency, dip into Florida’s rainy day fund, and pay for, then distribute, food to various pantries statewide. This comes as the federal government nears a month of being shutdown, meaning SNAP benefits will likely expire on Nov. 1.
The Phoenix previously reported that SNAP provides nutritional support for low-income seniors, people with disabilities living on fixed incomes, and other individuals and families with low incomes. Florida has the fourth largest SNAP enrollment nationwide with 2.94 million relying on the assistance for their food security, behind California, Texas, and New York.
Nationwide, 41.7 million people rely on SNAP benefits.
DeSantis, who dodged whether he’d use emergency powers, pinned the blame on Schumer for leading Senate Democrats on Tuesday in voting for the 13th time to block a House-passed bill to reopen the federal government, the Hill reported.
In order to reopen the government, Schumer said Republicans need to negotiate the enhanced premium tax credits that help offset the costs of health insurance policies on the federal health exchange.
Standing at 29 days, this is the second-longest government shutdown in history. It will become the longest if it lasts until Election Day on Nov. 4.
DeSantis: Democrats Should Ask Schumer to Safeguard SNAP added by Staff on
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The welfare state has become a vehicle that allows people to CHOOSE not to work and place the burden of raising their children on the tax payer. Drive by any low income housing project and note the nice new/late model cars and trucks parked there. And the welfare group gets free very expensive IPhone with a free plan. Add to that free healthcare and free or low cost college tuition. And the best part is free legal representation. Excuse me if I am not concerned about EBT cards not getting a deposit. What I am worried about with be the increase in crime and stealing that EBT card holders will commit. Stay home this weekend especially stay out of Walmart.
How many years have these people been on food assistance and they’re still on it? It’s supposed to be a crutch, a bit of help. Instead, it’s become a dependency. It’s almost as if you remove any need for people to provide for themselves, they won’t.