As pandemic-enhanced SNAP benefits end

Extra SNAP payments enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic end Tuesday, even as families continue to grapple with food prices that are higher now than they were throughout the pandemic. Households in Ohio have received emergency allotments in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payments since March 2020, through the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. In Hamilton County, commissioners said the change will affect more than 52,000 families living in Hamilton County. The federal assistance provided extra monthly payments for SNAP in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but beginning in March SNAP recipients will receive just the one monthly payment. Pre-pandemic, a household of three people would have received $180 a month in SNAP aid — but with the emergency allotment in place, that same family has been receiving $740 per month for the last three years.