Florida Democrats in the Legislature are imploring Gov. Ron DeSantis to declare a state of emergency and use state money to buy food and direct it to food pantries as nearly 3 million people lose access to a federal food assistance program.
Led by Senate Democratic Leader Lori Berman, D-Boynton Beach, and her House counterpart Fentrice Driskell, D-Tampa, legislative Democrats sent DeSantis a letter Tuesday asking him to use his emergency powers to ensure the millions of Floridians who rely on the Supplemental Assistance Nutrition Program don’t go hungry when their benefits expire Saturday as a result of the federal government shutdown.
The letter also asks DeSantis to direct the Department of Children and Families, which administers the SNAP program, to coordinate with local food banks and their community partners to distribute the food immediately.
“For families already struggling under record food and housing costs, the loss of this critical support would be catastrophic,” the letter reads. “Local food banks and pantries have already reported overwhelming demand and depleted supplies. … We are days away from a full-blown hunger emergency that will leave families without food during the holiday season. The state cannot stand by.”
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, August 2025 data show.
The governor’s office didn’t immediately respond to Florida Phoenix’s request for comment.
The state notice was put up after the U.S. Department of Agriculture posted Friday that it would not tap into $6 billion in contingency funds to keep benefits intact for the coming month. It would take $9 billion to cover the costs of the SNAP program through November. But the federal memo, first reported by Axios, claims that SNAP contingency funds cannot be used to float the program during the shutdown, an assertion that has been disputed.
Contingency funds “are only available to supplement regular monthly benefits when amounts have been appropriated for, but are insufficient to cover, benefits. The contingency fund is not available to support FY 2026 regular benefits, because the appropriation for regular benefits no longer exists,” the memo says.
The partisan impasse has resulted in a 28-day government shutdown, which began Oct. 1, the start of the federal fiscal year.
“SNAP is one of the most effective programs for addressing hunger and food insecurity in the state,” the letter from the Democrats stated.
“Especially after the recent cuts stemming from President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, Floridians cannot afford another day without action by the state. Florida has the fiscal strength to respond. What’s needed now is the moral will to act. No parent should have to choose between paying rent and feeding their kids. No child should go hungry because politicians in Washington can’t agree. We urge you to act immediately.”
“Heartless”
Berman said in prepared remarks that Florida has $5 billion in its “rainy day” fund that DeSantis could use to avert the food cliff low-income families face.
“The sudden loss of those benefits would be an economic and humanitarian nightmare,” she said. “With the stroke of a pen, the Governor can keep food on peoples’ tables. He has a responsibility to the people of this state to put partisanship aside and lead. Refusing to act would be truly heartless.”
Driskell said in her prepared remarks that the governor “brags” about “maxing out” the amount of savings in the state’s “rainy day” fund.
“If millions of hungry Floridians isn’t an economic storm, I don’t know what is,” she said, adding, “This is a crisis but an entirely solvable one. We can make sure Floridians do not go hungry. It costs a little more than $6 a day to feed someone. Isn’t every Floridian worth that?”
The letter also asks the governor to request the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to implement the universal school meals programs for the duration of the emergency.
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