A dispute between Pennsylvania officials and the Trump Administration over the state's food-stamp program shows no sign of being resolved, days after a federally imposed deadline for personal information about nearly 2 million beneficiaries. But a federal court order elsewhere may offer Gov. Josh Shapiro's administration a way out of the impasse — at least for a time.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has threatened to withhold nearly half a billion dollars from the state each year if officials don't hand over Social Security numbers and other information about residents enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — commonly referred to as food stamps. SNAP, as it's known, is funded federally, but administered by the state Department of Human Services.
The USDA set a Friday deadline for the information. But late Thursday, a federal judge in California, Maxine Chesney, temporarily blocked the USDA from forcing plaintiff states to comply with the demand. The ruling stemmed from a lawsuit filed by 21 Democratic-led states this summer.
Pennsylvania did not join the suit. But Bruce Ledewitz, Duquesne University emeritus professor of law, told WESA Monday that the state can still benefit from the judge's order.
"There's no question that they could join that lawsuit, [or] could file their own that piggybacks on it, and then it would be transferred undoubtedly to the judge who has the rest of [the plaintiffs]," Ledewitz said. "There are a million ways to do it.
"The states that are in would only be too happy if another state wanted to join," Ledewitz said. "The real question is why Pennsylvania didn't join originally."
Pennsylvania officials are not discussing the issue publicly: Neither the governor's office nor the state Department of Human Services would comment Monday.
The USDA has characterized its demand as an effort to curb fraud and abuse, saying that access to that information "is one of many steps to ensure SNAP is preserved for only those eligible." But critics speculate the request violates privacy rights, and may be an effort to chase undocumented immigrants in a recipient's household.
Chesney wrote that the plaintiffs showed that losing the money would "cause irreparable injury," which would "likely to require them to cut staffing and otherwise greatly reduce their ability to comply with their obligations under the SNAP Act to administer benefits."
The freeze is set to last at least until an Oct. 9 hearing, at which point it may be extended.
The order affects the states that sued, including Pennsylvania neighbors New Jersey and New York. (The lone exception is Nevada, which turned over its data to USDA in August despite its legal objections, according to the order.) New York Attorney General Letitia James said the order protects the benefits of 2.9 million SNAP enrollees in her state — about a third of whom are children.
"No one should have to fear that the assistance they rely on to put food on the table will be used against them," said James in a statement. She called Chesney's order "a critical victory in our efforts to protect the privacy of millions of vulnerable people."
But the order does not apply to states who aren't party to the suit.
In Kansas — which like Pennsylvania did not join the suit — a local judge is temporarily blocking the federal demand for data. But the state's Republican attorney general, Kris Kobach, has sued Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly to release it. And on Monday Kobach said the USDA has already levied a penalty by withholding a $10.4 million SNAP payment. The state has 10 days to appeal.
Pennsylvania officials haven't said whether they too have been notified of a similar penalty since Friday's deadline came and went. The USDA has said previously that it would withhold $115.3 million — an amount based on the state's error rate — every three months until Pennsylvania complies.
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