SNAPPING BACK
Published in the November 15, 2025 issue.
Now that the government has reopened, Inyo County decided not to proceed with allocating funds to supplement CalFresh (California’s version of SNAP) benefits despite securing funds to do so.
At the start of the month, the Trump administration halted SNAP funding due to the federal government shutdown, leaving millions of Americans without food assistance. In response, states began litigating the suspension, which led California Governor Gavin Newsom to authorize the immediate release of 100% of SNAP funding last Thursday.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court declined to intervene and order the government to fully restore benefits. However, the Court refrained from addressing whether lower courts were right in their decisions. It did not clarify when millions of Americans would receive their benefits.
Amid the federal confusion, Mono County, in partnership with the Town of Mammoth Lakes, allocated a total of $200,000 toward providing grocery cards to CalFresh households and strengthening food banks and other local food assistance programs. After serving 35 households, it paused the program last Thursday after Newsom’s announcement.
“While we understand Congress may soon reach an agreement to end the shutdown, we are incredibly grateful to have these emergency resources available should they be needed again – particularly if the shutdown is not fully resolved when December benefits are scheduled to be issued,” Mono County stated in a press release Wednesday.
Inyo County, meanwhile, silently secured a $20,000 grant from Southern California Edison through the Eastern Sierra Foundation, but did not deploy the funds. The County has no plans to use them now that benefits appear to be reinstated, Inyo County Supervisor Jeff Griffiths said.
“It’s all up in the air because the benefits are restored,” Griffiths said Wednesday. “This all happened very quickly.”
County supervisors were briefed by Anna Scott, Inyo County Health and Human Services director, at their Oct. 23 meeting on the potential shut-off of SNAP funds. According to Scott, about 2,087 residents recieve SNAP benefits.
With the funds sitting idle, Inyo County is now loosely considering reappropriating them for other assistance programs.
“These funds were intended for those who were losing their benefits,” Griffiths explained. “If we use them for something else, we would need to get approval from Southern California Edison.”
According to Scott, the funds could still be directed to their original purpose if SNAP is suspended again in the coming months.
“We’re trying to determine whether we’ll continue facing challenges with SNAP,” Scott said. “At this point, all SNAP benefits for November have been fully issued to eligible recipients, so we’re not planning to implement any alternative solutions right now.”
There is no time restriction for when the SCE funds would need to be allocated, Griffiths said, so they could be sitting for a while.
Meanwhile, as CalFresh families went without benefits for two weeks, Inyo County did not organize food drives or establish new food banks, as Mono County did. Instead, Inyo County referred those in need to existing resources, primarily the Inyo Mono Advocates for Community Action (IMACA) Food Resources.
“[Families affected by the benefit suspension] have indicated that they have enough resources to meet their needs,” Scott noted. “I haven’t heard anything different at this point.”
All other programs administered by Inyo County Health and Human Services are fully funded through at least the end of December.
“We’re not worried right now, but we are certainly monitoring the situation at the federal level closely,” Scott said.
