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Emergency food stamp benefits to continue into summer

Spencer Platt
/
Getty Images

The New Mexico Human Services Department announced New Mexicans receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, food benefits will continue to receive the maximum amount for their household size during the month of May, continuing until the announcement of the end of the public health emergency in mid summer.

Maximum supplemental benefits distributed during the pandemic will expire one month after the end of the Public Health Emergency is announced. That date will likely be around July 15. Households approved for SNAP will continue to receive their pre-pandemic level benefits based on eligibility and will not see an interruption of services.

Since March 2020, more than $820,000,000 in Emergency SNAP Benefits have been distributed to almost 290,000 households in New Mexico according to Human Services Department Deputy Secretary Angela Medrano. However, SNAP benefits are not available to undocumented people. The Department asked that SNAP clients check their contact information and make sure it is up to date by visiting the YesNM website. They also highlighted that New Mexicans candouble the dollar amount of benefits for fruits and vegetables grown in the state when they use their SNAP card at participating farmers markets, farm stands and grocery stores.

En español:

El Departamento de Servicios Humanos de Nuevo México anunció que los beneficios complementarios máximos distribuidos durante la pandemia vencerán un mes después de que se anuncie el final de la Emergencia de Salud Pública. Es probable que esa fecha sea alrededor del 15 de julio. Los hogares aprobados para SNAP continuarán recibiendo sus beneficios de nivel previo a la pandemia según la elegibilidad y no verán una interrupción de los servicios.

Desde marzo de 2020, se han distribuido más de $820,000,000 en beneficios de SNAP de emergencia a casi 290,000 hogares en Nuevo México, según la subsecretaria del Departamento de Servicios Humanos, Angela Medrano. Sin embargo, los beneficios de SNAP no están disponibles para personas indocumentadas. El Departamento solicitó que los clientes de SNAP verifiquen su información de contacto y se aseguren de que esté actualizada visitando el sitio web de YesNM.

También destacaron que los nuevo mexicanos pueden duplicar el monto en dólares de los beneficios para las frutas y verduras cultivadas en el estado cuando usan su tarjeta SNAP en los mercados de agricultores y supermercados participantes.

Yasmin Khan covers worker's rights in New Mexico, with a focus on Spanish-speaking residents. She is finishing her Ph.D. in human geography and women & gender studies at the University of Toronto where she studies refugee and humanitarian aid dynamics in Bangladesh. She has a bachelor's degree in journalism from UNM. Yasmin was director of The Americas Program, an online U.S. foreign policy magazine based in Mexico City, and was a freelance journalist in Bolivia. She covered culture, immigration, and higher education for the Santa Fe New Mexican and city news for the Albuquerque Journal.
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