On the national scale, the federal government’s suspension of poverty-based food benefits has blue states suing the Trump Administration.
But in Wyoming, the fallout has the Legislature’s social-conservative Republican caucus and one of its most prominent Democrats quoting the same Bible verse.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced early Tuesday that federal Supplemental Nutrition Program Assistance (SNAP) benefits, also known as food stamps, won’t be distributed starting Nov. 1 as scheduled because of the federal government’s weekslong shutdown.
The Wyoming Department of Family Services (DFS) is working with its “longtime partner” the Food Bank of Wyoming and helping to connect people with local food banks in the meantime. But the state agency only administers the SNAP program, it does not fund it.
DFS can’t dispense those payments on Nov. 1 and ask for reimbursement later, because the federal government sends money directly to the benefit cards, DFS public information officer Kelly Douglas told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday.
To change that system would take months, Douglas added.
You Fed Me
This has lawmakers calling for people to help their own neighbors.
State Rep. Trey Sherwood, a self-described “grassroots Democrat” of Laramie, posted a Bible verse to her Facebook page Oct. 21: “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.”
That’s a reference to Matthew 25:35, in which Jesus says that he’s represented in the poor and needy, and people should reflect that by how they treat the latter.
Five days after Sherwood’s post, the Wyoming Freedom Caucus opened its own Facebook post with the same verse.
Both statements go on to encourage people to connect with local food pantries and ministries in anticipation of what was — when they were published — a possible suspension of the Nov. 1 SNAP payout.
“As Christians,” wrote the Freedom Caucus, which presents itself as a Christian-membership group of state lawmakers, “we’re called to be the hands and feet of Jesus — to feed the hungry, comfort the weary, and love our neighbors as ourselves.”
Families across Wyoming communities are not being paid now due to the government shutdown, the post adds.
The combination of deferred paychecks and suspended SNAP benefits is especially pronounced in the state’s richest county, Rep. Mike Yin, D-Jackson, told Cowboy State Daily in a Tuesday phone interview.
That’s because the federal poverty level that dictates SNAP access isn’t modified for cost-of-living variables. Meaning the poorer workers of Jackson Hole may struggle with food insecurity but not qualify for the benefits, Yin said.
He said he’s working with others to streamline donations to those who need them.
In the meantime, people in communities around Wyoming are doing what both groups have promoted.
At St. Joseph’s Food Pantry in Cheyenne, the largest in the capital city, volunteers are fielding more phone calls from people concerned about the suspension of SNAP benefits and inquiring about getting food, said Jamie Pullos, a 10-year volunteer with organization.
She said people on the other end of the phone are often worried or desperate-sounding.
“We tell them it’s OK. We have plenty of food, come on by and we’ll take care of you,” Pullos told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday.
That’s what the food pantry is there for, she said.
“It’s not supposed to be the government helping, it’s supposed to be neighbors helping neighbors, in my opinion,” she said.
Oh Those Feds
Yin said he’s hopeful that the suspension, and the struggles it brings to some, will help to bridge political divides within communities.
Maybe Wyoming can do it better than the federal government, Yin reasoned.
“I mean, what we’re seeing right now is the dysfunction of a federal government (and its failure) to actually work together,” Yin said. “I truly hope that on the ground, in our local communities, we can do a better job than they’re doing right now.”
Rep. Tom Kelly, R-Sheridan, didn’t summon much optimism toward that end, saying the SNAP suspension could drive people even deeper into their political presumptions.
“Disruptions in SNAP won’t change anyone’s mind,” wrote Kelly in a Tuesday text message. “It will either be seen as evidence that too many people are dependent on government, or evidence of how crucial the program is.”
As for Kelly, he supports the idea of SNAP and using it to feed poor kids, he said.
But he’d like to see it narrowed so it’s not “feeding able-bodied adults who have the capacity to work,” Kelly said, adding, “I’m definitely a supporter of keeping it targeted towards families with children, and targeted towards real food, not soda and junk food.”
That’s an echo of a recent bill that the legislative Health, Labor and Social Services Committee adopted ahead of the Feb. 9 session to “waive” Wyoming from having to distribute SNAP benefits for junk foods.
What It ‘Does NOT Say’
Kelly had re-posted the Wyoming Freedom Caucus’ SNAP post with the statement, “Notice it does NOT say, ‘For I was hungry and you voted for the politicians who forced somebody else to give me something to eat.’”
Though minimalistic about government benefits, Kelly extended a personal offer to furloughed federal workers in the Sheridan area with an Oct. 17 post telling those with “kids who need food” to message him privately.
No one has asked for help yet, he told Cowboy State Daily, but a couple people have offered to pitch in with him to help others.
The fact that Sherwood and the caucus quoted the same Bible verse is a sign of where the real duty of charity lies, Kelly said.
“I like the fact that both Freedom Caucus and a leading Democrat are interpreting that verse correctly — that we’re called to help one another; not called to have the government do it for us,” said Kelly.
Sherwood is a leading Democrat in the Legislature as she sits on the body's most powerful committee, Joint Appropriations.
She didn't concede Kelly's conclusion altogether.
She said she's encouraged to see the groundswell of aid in her community, but also believes “the role of government is to ensure that all of our residents have access to life liberty and happiness.
“And I don’t know how you can go after those things if you’re hungry and there’s no food on the table," she added.
In a follow-up text she called Wyoming’s effort to ban SNAP distribution for junk food “government overreach,” adding that parents should have the freedom to decide which groceries are best for their families.
Not At All
The similarities between the Wyoming Freedom Caucus’ thoughts on SNAP and Sherwood’s stance on it ended after their mirroring calls for neighborly charity, their separate interviews indicate.
“Democrats in Congress are essentially using federal workers and vulnerable American people as political leverage,” wrote WFC Chair Rep. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams, R-Cody, in a Tuesday text message to Cowboy State Daily.
The reference is to the federal government’s Oct. 1 shutdown, after lawmakers failed to reach an agreement to extend government funding.
Republicans and Democrats have been blaming each other for this, as Democrats have pushed for the inclusion of negotiations over health care tax credits, and Republicans have pushed for health care and other issues to be negotiated outside the funding agreement.
The SNAP fallout and “the Democrats’ willingness to behave this way,” wrote Rodriguez-Williams, “proves to the American people that the government should not be in the business of welfare at all.
“We must stop outsourcing compassion to the government,” she continued, “because government is always substandard at what private individuals and organizations can accomplish on their own.”
In The Meantime
While Kelly and the WFC both indicated the state Legislature shouldn’t shoulder the SNAP payments, Yin and Sherwood indicated they’d like to see something in place to prevent future fallouts, whether it’s a streamlining of emergency funds or some other safety net system.
Without going into special session, the Legislature can’t address the shortfall now.
Gov. Mark Gordon in a Tuesday statement said he’s exploring “options” to help.
“We in Wyoming know how important it is to solve problems which is why I know food pantries, churches and other organizations across the Cowboy State are ready to step up and help,” said Gordon in the statement. “We are working on ways to provide assistance.
"In the meantime, I have no doubt that Wyoming citizens will help by donating to their local food pantry, church pantry and charitable organization.”
Hey A Little Less Voice There
Sherwood said the roughly $5 million in monthly SNAP benefits that Wyomingites are missing also translates to a loss for grocers and other food vendors.
Kelly countered, saying recycling public money to the public doesn’t make for economic gains in the long term, but economic losses with administration costs.
Then Kelly launched a tangent to critique the Trump administration’s politically-charged handling of the shutdown and SNAP suspension.
The USDA’s website this week read: “Senate Democrats have now voted 12 times to not fund the food stamp program ... Bottom line, the well has run dry.”
The statement is a direct reference to Democrats declining to vote for the temporary funding bill that would restore SNAP benefits.
There have been 13 votes on the bill as of Tuesday afternoon and only two Democrats — Sens. Catherine Cortez-Masto of Nevada and John Fetterman of Pennsylvania — have voted in favor of the bill.
The others are holding out for a compromise on Affordable Care Act funding.
Democrats, the page continues, “can continue to hold out for healthcare for illegal aliens and gender mutilation procedures or reopen the government so mothers, babies, and the most vulnerable among us can receive critical nutrition assistance.”
Numbers
Kelly said that kind of political narrative-pushing on official government pages “is inappropriate.”
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, around 29,000 people in 13,000 households receive SNAP benefits in Wyoming.
The average monthly benefit is around $386 per household. The program spends about $5.2 million to $5.4 million per month on Wyoming families.
SNAP participants in Wyoming received around $62 million in benefits in 2024. Children and seniors receive the majority of the benefits.
Cowboy State Daily managing editor Greg Johnson contributed to this report.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
