Great news for Massachusetts SNAP recipients! On April 3rd, the state announced that they will issuing extra food stamps for April 2023.
Massachusetts SNAP households will receive state-funded extra food stamp payments beginning on April 7, 2023. In addition to April, Massachusetts Food Stamps households will also receive extra food stamps from the state in May 2nd and June 2nd, 2023.
UPDATE: New Jersey will also be issuing extra SNAP benefits for April, May & June 2023.
Extra Food Stamps for April 2023
This follows Governor Healey’s signing of a supplemental budget that included $130 million towards the state-funded extra food stamp benefits. This initiative will help families following the expiration of the federal SNAP Emergency Allotment benefits. The supplemental budget will create a gradual decrease of the extra federal COVID SNAP benefits for Massachusetts food stamps households.
“We have heard from many families on how vital the federal extra COVID SNAP benefits have been in Massachusetts to help buy food that met their nutritional and cultural needs. These extra state-funded payments will be a critical offramp to the federal benefits and will support over 650,000 households at a time of high food prices,” said Massachusetts DTA Commissioner Mary Sheehan.
What states are issuing extra Food Stamp benefits for April 2023?
Currently, Massachusetts is the only state that has announced that they will be issuing state-funded extra food stamps for April 2023. Massachusetts SNAP recipients can expect to receive a minimum additional payment of $38 in April.
Will other states be approved to issue extra Food Stamps for April 2023?
As of April 5th, Massachusetts is the only state to announce that they will be issuing extra food stamp benefits for April 2023 through a state-funded program.
At this time, no additional states have announced that they will be issuing extra SNAP benefits. However, it is likely that other states such as California and New York will follow suit. We will update this article as more information is released.
How much are the Extra Food Stamp payments for April 2023?
Massachusetts SNAP households can expect to receive an extra payment equal to 40 percent of the difference between the maximum benefit for their household size and their regular monthly benefit amount. The extra Food Stamp payments will have a minimum amount of $38 a month.
When will I receive my extra Food Stamps for April 2023?
The extra food stamp payments will be placed available on Massachusetts EBT cards separately from the normal monthly SNAP benefit. Extra food stamp payments will be sent out on the following dates:
- Friday, April 7th 2023
- Tuesday, May 2nd 2023
- Friday, June 2nd 2023
When did the federal Extra Food Stamp benefits end?
On March 1, 2023, the federal Emergency Allotment Program expired for all SNAP recipients nationwide.
The Pandemic Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as P-SNAP was implemented to help address temporary food needs caused by COVID-19. P-SNAP provided emergency allotment benefits to households based on size.
On March 1st 2023, all SNAP benefit amounts returned to pre-pandemic normals for food stamp households.
This change will caused recipients of all ages to lose their extra food stamp benefits after February 2023.
Families lost an average of $82 per person in extra benefits. That means a family of four lost an average of $328 in food stamp benefits each month.
However, the steepest loss was for seniors receiving SNAP benefits. Seniors receiving the minimum benefit amount lost $258 in monthly food stamp benefits. Their SNAP benefits fell from $281 a month to $23 a month.
Why did the Extra Food Stamp benefits end?
The extra food stamp benefits were a temporary increase in benefits to help low-income households deal with the hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Consolidated Appropriations Act passed by Congress ended emergency allotments after the February 2023 issuance. This means that on March 1st 2023, all SNAP households’ benefits returned to normal amounts, without the added supplement.
Extra Food Stamps for April 2023 in Massachusetts Summary
We hope this article on Massachusetts issuing Extra Food Stamps for April 2023 was helpful to you.
If you have any additional questions about the extra SNAP benefits for April, please let us know in the comments section below.
We will update this article if more states announce that they will be issuing extra SNAP benefits for April 2023.
In the meantime, be sure to check out our other articles:
- Extra SNAP Food Stamps for June 2023
- Extra SNAP Benefits end in March 2023
- 2023 Food Stamps Income Limits
- How to get $10 Internet with Food Stamps
- EBT Card Discounts for 2023
- Restaurants that Accept SNAP EBT in Massachusetts