2020.3.25 TWW Perdue Emergency Food Assistance COVID 19

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
March 25, 2020
The Honorable Sonny Perdue

Secretary
United States Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20250
Dear Secretary Perdue:
I write to request your immediate assistance related to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s

needs during the COVID-19 pandemic – specifically related to emergency food assistance. To fight the
spread of COVID-19 and protect Pennsylvanians and our healthcare providers, I ordered all non-life
sustaining businesses to close physical operations and am encouraging Pennsylvanians to stay at home in
areas where there has been an exponential increase of new COVID-19 cases. As a result, many
Pennsylvanians are temporarily unemployed and unable to afford basic necessities due to these necessary
mitigation and social distancing efforts. To date, there have been an unprecedented number of initial
claims for unemployment compensation, and our charitable food system is struggling to meet the
increased demands of Pennsylvanians who are temporarily out of work.
On Friday, March 20, 2020, Pennsylvania submitted its application for Disaster Household
Distribution to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS).
I am writing to urge that USDA review and approve this application as soon as possible. This immediate
action is critical to ensure that Pennsylvania’s food banks and food assistance networks can swiftly
distribute USDA Foods currently in their warehouses to those newly in need of food assistance without
the need to verify eligibility.
Further, I request your immediate consideration of the following three items of critical
importance to Pennsylvanians struggling with food insecurity:
Waive Eligibility Requirements for The Emergency Food Assistance Program
We are grateful that the Families First package was passed and signed, which increases The
Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) funding by $400 million. However, this critical funding
will not make the needed difference if USDA does not also temporarily waive all eligibility requirements
for TEFAP. I urge you to take administrative action under the President’s national disaster declaration to
temporarily waive these requirements to help Pennsylvanians who need access to emergency food now. It
is critical that Pennsylvanians in need have access as quickly as possible, and that the food banks working
around the clock can help those in need without the additional burden and delay of completing paperwork
and verifying client eligibility. Those who are seeking assistance from our food banks are the newly
unemployed and those critically in need of food, and it is unconscionable to delay their access because of
the need to complete cumbersome paperwork requirements to prove that they are eligible for the food that
they so desperately need.
225 Main Capitol Building | Harrisburg, PA 17120 | 717.787.2500 | Fax 717.772.8284 | www.pa.gov
Reconsideration of Pennsylvania’s Request for Temporary Waivers
I also ask that you issue temporary waivers to allow use and replacement of on-hand supplies of
USDA Foods at schools and state warehouses to provide food to those in need as a result of this crisis.
Normally, with a disaster declaration, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture is able to access
USDA Foods intended for National School Lunch to provide to the Red Cross and others for use in
congregate feeding sites and is able to seek replacement of these foods after the disaster conditions are
resolved. Since congregate feeding sites are not safe due to COVID-19, we must be able use these foods
in creative new delivery methods and be assured of replacement. I request that schools be allowed to use
these foods to prepare meals and provide them to other family members – children and adults – who
might bring enrolled students to a closed Seamless Summer/Summer Feeding site. Having flexibility to
use these foods and to be able to seek replacement would allow the sites to serve any child 18 years of age
or younger, and potentially the caregivers as well. We requested this flexibility from FNS on Tuesday,
March 17, and it was denied on Friday, March 20. I strongly urge you to reconsider and direct your staff
to allow this critical flexibility.
Flexibility within the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
Further, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act provides temporary new authority and
broad flexibility for USDA and states to adapt the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to
address many people’s food needs during the current public health emergency and economic shock from
the COVID-19 pandemic. USDA and states need to act quickly and aggressively to fully utilize SNAP in
order to protect public health and mitigate hardship.
The Act allows states to provide emergency supplemental SNAP benefits to many participating
SNAP households to address temporary food needs. The legislation authorizes USDA to provide
an additional emergency allotment to all households, up to the amount of the maximum benefit for their
household size. Unfortunately, USDA is interpreting section 2302 to allow states to raise SNAP benefits
for each household up to the maximum benefit for the household size, without any additional allotment.
If USDA maintains this interpretation, households already at the maximum benefit, which make
up nearly 40 percent of SNAP households and those with the lowest incomes, will not receive any
additional assistance. The reason households receive the maximum benefit is that they have no income
available to purchase food. About 2.5 million of the households receiving the maximum benefit are
families that include children, about 1 million households receiving the maximum benefit are households
with elderly members, and 600,000 are households with people with disabilities.
We are deeply concerned that the poorest households, particularly those with very young
children, would not be eligible to receive anything under this reading of the law. We strongly urge USDA
to reconsider its interpretation to avoid imposing a restriction on the emergency benefit at a time of such
extraordinary crisis.
SNAP Online Purchasing Pilot
USDA’s SNAP Online Purchasing Pilot makes it possible for SNAP participants to purchase
grocery deliveries, but its availability is limited to only a few states. Given the social distancing required
to fight COVID-19, I urge USDA to notify retailers of the flexibilities that do currently exist to make
grocery delivery possible for all SNAP recipients who need it.
All retailers that are able to offer online ordering are doing so, and this option must be made
available for SNAP participants as well. There are several models that the private sector can employ, such
as processing the EBT card either at the time of pickup from the store or when the groceries are delivered
to the SNAP participant. For retailers who have mobile device capabilities, swiping the card at drop-off
would be the simplest option. If mobile devices are not available, the card could be obtained by the
retailer or other partner prior to pick-up at the store, swiped upon pick-up at the store, and returned upon
drop-off of the groceries to the card holder.
USDA has a direct line to the retailers who accept SNAP benefits and must ensure that they are
encouraged to offer grocery delivery for SNAP participants. Pennsylvania retailers are already interested
in providing these options to customers. I also urge you to seek out public-private partnerships with these
retailers, as you have recently done with companies to begin to help with rural school meal delivery.
I appreciate the collaboration with USDA to date to approve several critical flexibilities related to
signatures and distribution of USDA Foods through The Emergency Food Assistance Program and the
Commodity Supplemental Food Program. However, without additional action from USDA,
Pennsylvania’s food banks will not be able to keep up with the demand placed on them by the COVID-19
pandemic. It is inhumane to consider that Pennsylvanians who are doing the responsible thing by staying
home to stop the spread of COVID-19 in our communities would go hungry because of USDA’s limiting
interpretations and refusal to cut bureaucratic red tape during a national crisis.
Sincerely,
TOM WOLF
Governor

2020.3.25 TWW Perdue Emergency Food Assistance COVID 19

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COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA

OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR

March 25, 2020

The Honorable Sonny Perdue

Dear Secretary Perdue:

I write to request your immediate assistance related to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s

Waive Eligibility Requirements for The Emergency Food Assistance Program

Reconsideration of Pennsylvania’s Request for Temporary Waivers

Flexibility within the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

SNAP Online Purchasing Pilot

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