If you are one of the 166,000 people in Nebraska who receive food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or if you are considering applying for SNAP benefits, you may be wondering how the partial government shutdown may impact SNAP in Nebraska. Here are the important things for you to know:
- If you have a January recertification deadline, you must submit the required recertification materials as soon as possible and no later than 10:00 PM on January 15th. You can do this by going to the access Nebraska website at www.accessnebraska.ne.gov.
- Nebraska is going to issue February SNAP benefits early, on or before January 20th. This is not an additional payment, but simply the early issuance of your February benefits. No additional SNAP benefits will be disbursed until after February 28th. If the federal shutdown continues into March, it is unclear whether additional SNAP disbursements will be made until the shutdown is resolved. Even if the shutdown is resolved before January 20th, February benefits will still be issued early.
- If you are planning to apply for SNAP, you should do so as soon as possible.
- Be aware of potential scam attempts related to SNAP benefits. DHHS will not ask for your social security number over the phone. If you are contacted by someone you suspect is scamming you related to your public benefits, contact DHHS right away and report it.
The federal shutdown is creating a lot of uncertainty around the administration of public benefits. This is what we know for now, but this is subject to change. We will update this information when we know more. If you have any questions on how your SNAP benefits may be impacted by the shutdown that are not answered above, please access our online intake system at neappleseed.org/gethelp.