All SNAP Recipients will Continue Receiving the Maximum Food Benefits for their Household

More Than $2.1 Billion in Supplemental Benefits Distributed Since Last Year

The state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) today announced that all New Yorkers enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will receive at least the maximum allowable level of food benefits for May. For a fifteenth consecutive month, these emergency supplemental SNAP benefits are being provided to individuals and households already enrolled in SNAP.

“We recognize that many New Yorkers continue to struggle in the wake of COVID-19 and that it is especially difficult for those who already been struggling to feed themselves and their families,” said Mike Hein, commissioner of OTDA, which administers SNAP in New York State. “This additional assistance is providing much-needed relief and helping hundreds of thousands of individuals and families to put healthy, nutritious food on the table.”

The emergency assistance supplement is provided to all SNAP households. SNAP recipients that that do not ordinarily receive the maximum allowable benefit per month, which varies by household size, and is $234 for an individual and $782 for a family of four, receive a supplement to bring them up to that level. Since April, SNAP households receiving the maximum monthly benefit, and those that had been receiving an emergency allotment of less than $95 per month, now receive a minimum supplement of $95.

The additional food benefits will be distributed starting May 10 and continuing through the end of the month.

Nearly 1.6 million households in New York State will receive the supplemental allotment later this month, which will result in a $200 million infusion into the state’s economy.

As with the prior months, the payments will be delivered directly to recipients’ existing Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) account and can be accessed with their existing EBT card. Like regular SNAP benefits, the supplemental benefits can be used to purchase food at authorized retail food stores. Any unused SNAP benefits will be automatically carried over to the following month.

The additional SNAP benefits have provided more than $2.1 billion in much-needed federal dollars to local retailers throughout the state since April 2020. Struggling New Yorkers continue to rely heavily on SNAP as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. As of February, there were more than 2.7 million SNAP recipients throughout the state, a 7.8 percent increase from March 2020.

For more information on the emergency supplemental SNAP benefits, including answers to frequently asked questions, visit otda.ny.gov/SNAP-COVID-19. New Yorkers can check their eligibility for SNAP and apply online by visiting mybenefits.ny.gov.