RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Thousands of people who lost federal food assistance due to expanded work rules will receive a one-time $400 benefit starting Saturday, according to state officials.
The FRESH program, of Families Receiving Emergency Support for Hunger, will provide support to an estimated 100,000 people in Illinois who were deemed ineligible for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program as of May 1 . The state allocated $70 million for the program in the budget passed this year, with one $400 benefit allowed per household.
Congress expanded the work rules for the program to include 55- to 64-year-olds, veterans and parents whose youngest child is 14 years or older. Since those rules went into effect in Illinois, about 148,000 people have lost food assistance, according to the Illinois Department of Human Services, which administers the program and will also distribute FRESH funds.
Overall, participation in the SNAP program in Illinois declined by 16% since last summer when President Donald Trump signed into law the bill that overhauled the program.
Households eligible for the FRESH program do not have to apply, according to state officials. The funds will be distributed through LINK cards, which is how SNAP recipients receive funds to buy groceries.
“In Illinois, we passed the FRESH program to help provide some relief for families kicked off food assistance, but no state can backfill the cruel and imminent cuts set in motion by Trump’s budget bill,” said Democrat Gov. JB Pritzker, in a prepared statement.
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