Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry has declared a state of emergency to fund the state’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as food stamps, in the first few days of November amid the ongoing federal government shutdown.
The move makes Louisiana the only state in the Gulf South attempting to fund SNAP benefits for residents next month amid the ongoing federal government shutdown. The Trump Administration said Monday that it would not use emergency funds to send out federal food aid, blaming Democrats for not working to reopen the government.
In his declaration made Friday, Landry asked the state legislature to authorize $150 million of state money to subsidize Louisiana SNAP benefits for November. However, Landry specifically asked that distribution be from November 1 through November 4, and limited the funds to go to children, the elderly and disabled people, which make up a majority — but not all — of Louisiana SNAP recipients.
The initial round of funding will come from the Louisiana Department of Health. Legislators also have the option to tap into a state reserve fund to subsidize future months.
Landry, a Republican, also blamed the lack of benefits on Senate Democrats, referring to the ongoing shutdown as the “Schumer Shutdown” in his declaration. Both sides are attempting to use the shutdown to gain political leverage.
The state legislature — which is in an unrelated special session — is voting on the governor’s request and is expected to pass it. The measure passed the House unanimously on Friday, soon after Landry made his declaration. The issue is now with the Senate, which will take up the matter on Wednesday.
The resolution needs to pass the Senate by a two-thirds majority. Landry has scheduled a news conference for Wednesday at 2 p.m. to address the SNAP resolution.
Impact on region
Roughly 800,000 people in Louisiana — or about 1 in 5 — receive SNAP benefits. Landry’s declaration estimates about 565,000 SNAP recipients in the state are either children, the elderly or disabled, but it is not clear how many will receive funds next month.
Jan Moller, executive director of Invest in Louisiana, a nonpartisan think tank that pushes policy changes to benefit low-income Louisiana residents, praised Landry’s declaration and the House vote on X. “Kudos to the #lalege for doing the right thing by urging the Louisiana Department of Health to fund November SNAP benefits, which the Trump administration is refusing to fund amid the ongoing government shutdown,” Moller said.
In a follow-up post, Moller said, “Feeding hungry families should always be nonpartisan.”
The Louisiana House just voted 97-0 on a resolution urging the state health department to fund SNAP benefits using state resources while federal financing remains on hold during the shutdown. Good. Feeding hungry families should always be nonpartisan. #lalege
— Jan Moller (@jmollerLBP) October 24, 2025
Neighboring states Alabama and Mississippi have both opted not to fund benefits in November. Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves attacked Democrats in Congress for the shutdown, saying on X that his state is unable to cover the costs.
“There is sadly no simple way for state government to just step in and pay the hundreds of millions of dollars in harm that this shutdown by the Washington Democrats is causing,” Reeves said.
Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson echoed Reeves' statement, saying that some things in Mississippi just can't work without federal funding. If the House doesn't reconvene, he warned, things could keep getting worse — not just for people on SNAP, but for Mississippians across the board.
"The House not being in session is not the way to fix the problem," Thompson told MPB News. "It would have a catastrophic effect on not just those families who are presently on SNAP, but there are businesses that will be impacted and, obviously, our food banks and other things depend on some of those resources to feed the working poor."
Mississippi has over 350,000 residents receiving SNAP benefits — roughly 12% of the state's entire population. Annie Morris, a retiree who lives in Jackson, is one of those recipients and said SNAP is what puts food on her table.
"It helps me out with my finances because my checks got to go to my bills, and SNAP helped me to get food — and I really do need that," she told MPB News.
Alabama currently has about 749,000 on SNAP. The state’s Department of Human Resources, the agency responsible for SNAP benefits, said on its website that residents can still apply for SNAP during the suspension and the agency will continue to process applications and determine eligibility. ADHR also said current SNAP recipients must continue to recertify their benefits as they normally would to continue in the program. Funds for new or current enrollees will not be issued until the suspension is lifted, ADHR said.
For SNAP recipients, pivoting to food banks to make up the difference of undispersed benefits is not a feasible option. Most food banks only have the donations, manpower and infrastructure to provide one meal for every nine SNAP provides.
Mike Manning, president and CEO of the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank, said they’re still trying to figure out how they’re going to keep up.
“Once the SNAP benefits go away and people can no longer use SNAP cards, it's gonna be a real challenge,” he said. “We're gonna see people coming to us for help, and we're already very limited in the amount of food we have available.”
NPR’s Jaclyn Diaz, Gulf States Newsroom's Elise Catrion Gregg and Mississippi Public Broadcasting’s Shamira Muhammad contributed to this report.
This story was produced by the Gulf States Newsroom, a collaboration between Mississippi Public Broadcasting, WBHM in Alabama, WWNO and WRKF in Louisiana and NPR.
