October 30, 2025
Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today introduced the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Benefits and Compensation for Keep-Up (SNAP BACK) Act. The bill would retroactively reimburse states that use state funding to administer Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits during the federal government shutdown. Almost 42 million Americans– and nearly 120,000 Delawareans – receive critical food assistance through SNAP.
“Just months after making the largest cuts to SNAP in modern history, and weeks into their government shutdown, Republicans in Washington seem content to let Americans go hungry,” said Senator Blunt Rochester. “As the Trump administration abdicates its responsibility to fund SNAP – despite having the emergency funding to keep it from lapsing – states like Delaware are stepping in to keep folks fed. The SNAP BACK Act would ensure those states don’t take money from other critical services to foot the bill.”
Recently, the Trump administration informed states that they are not planning to use any of the contingency funds available to fund SNAP during the federal government shutdown. A coalition of 23 state attorneys general, including Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings, filed a lawsuit to compel the release of these funds, given the administration’s legal obligation to use them. In turn, states like Delaware have declared a state of emergency to provide stopgap funding for the program so Delawareans receive the critical food assistance they’re entitled to.
Full text of the SNAP BACK Act is available here.
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Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester represents Delaware in the United States Senate where she serves on the Committees on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Commerce, Science, and Transportation; Environment and Public Works; and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.