by Ty Tagami | Nov 4, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — People in Georgia who rely on the federal government for food may or may not start receiving money Wednesday, amid head-spinning pronouncements from Washington.
An estimated 1.4 million Georgians receive subsidies for groceries through the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which the administration of President Donald Trump sought to freeze during the ongoing government shutdown.
The Trump administration reversed course Tuesday morning, saying payments would resume, then appeared to reverse course again later in the morning.
First, the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued guidance to states telling them that SNAP recipients would receive their deposits this month after all — albeit at half the normal amount — because of federal judges’ orders last week.
“Due to the limited availability of Federal funding and orders from two Federal courts, the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is reducing SNAP maximum allotments to 50 percent,” the USDA said, adding that states should “take immediate action” to implement the new plan.
Then, Trump published a post on his Truth Social platform before noon that appeared to undo that plan. SNAP benefits “will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government,” he wrote.
The Trump administration announced late last month that it would freeze SNAP funding because of the refusal by Democrats in Congress to approve a continuing resolution to fund the federal budget.
Democrats then blamed Republicans for refusing to negotiate terms for approval, mainly the restoration of tax credits for Affordable Care Act health insurance coverage. Premiums are expected to skyrocket in January without those credits.
It is unclear whether SNAP recipients will get their deposits on the normal monthly schedule, which starts Wednesday in Georgia.
SNAP benefits are normally distributed to Georgia recipients on a rotating basis beginning on the fifth day of each month and continuing on odd dates through the 23rd of each month.SNAP benefits are normally distributed to Georgia recipients on a rotating basis beginning on the fifth day of each month and continuing on odd dates through the 23rd of each month.
by Ty Tagami | Nov 3, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — Georgia politicians continued to blame each other Monday for the lapse in funding for federal food assistance, amid confusion about the government’s reaction to two federal lawsuits.
On Friday, judges ordered the administration of President Donald Trump to resume depositing funds into the accounts of recipients of a U.S. Department of Agriculture program that feeds low-income households. News reports indicate that the administration will make only partial payments.
But by the end of the workday Monday, neither the USDA nor the Georgia agency that administers the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, had updated old public messaging on their websites to clarify the status of the funding.
“Bottom line, the well has run dry,” said a banner that has been atop the USDA website since last month. It was posted in response to the government shutdown that started Oct. 1.
The website of Georgia’s Department of Human Services had not updated two messages from Oct. 24 about SNAP. The first said the electronic benefits cards that recipients use to spend their subsidy would stop working Nov. 1. Another clarified that recipients could still spend unused benefits in their accounts after that deadline.
On Monday, a spokeswoman for the state agency had no new information. “We will continue to follow official guidance from USDA as it becomes available,” Ellen Brown said in an email. “We understand how important SNAP benefits are to Georgia families and are closely monitoring the situation.”
The lack of clarity about whether people will be able to put food on the table this month has caused significant anxiety, said Eliza McCall, the chief programming officer for Second Harvest of South Georgia.
The food bank serves more than a dozen counties in South Georgia and typically gets maybe five calls a week from people seeking food, she said. That number rose to 25 during the first three days of last week, she said, doubling to 28 on Thursday.
“People are scared,” McCall said. “People are extremely nervous and that’s completely understandable because the uncertainty and the instability do not breed confidence.”
Meanwhile, Democrats and Republicans were trading blows, blaming the other side for a looming food shortage.
The Trump administration announced late last month that it would freeze SNAP funding because of the refusal by Democrats in Congress to approve a continuing resolution to fund the federal budget.
Democrats then blamed Republicans for refusing to negotiate terms for approval, mainly the restoration of tax credits for Affordable Care Act health insurance coverage. Premiums are expected to skyrocket in January without those credits.
SNAP recipients were “dragged into this fight” by Trump and Republicans in Congress, Sen. Raphael Warnock, one of Georgia’s two Democratic U.S. Senators, told reporters at a neighborhood grocery store in Atlanta Monday.
“They are literally pitting sick people against hungry people. I can’t think of anything more craven than that,” Warnock said. “This is a manufactured crisis by the Trump administration aided and abetted by Washington Republicans.”
On the other side, U.S. Rep. Austin Scott, a Republican representing part of South Georgia, blamed U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat and minority leader of the Senate, who has orchestrated numerous votes against a continuing resolution.
Scott, sounding like Warnock, called the shutdown and its effect on SNAP benefits and other programs a “manufactured” disaster, but he blamed it on Democrats. In a statement emailed Monday, he suggested that the shutdown and its effects would not end soon because of them.
“Because of their refusal to fund the government, women and children who need assistance will struggle to purchase food for Thanksgiving,” Scott said.
by Ty Tagami | Nov 3, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — Voters in Clark and Oconee counties will vote Dec. 9 in a special election to replace former state Rep. Marcus Wiedower, R-Watkinsville, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced Monday.
Raffensperger scheduled the special election for the same date that voters in Cherokee County will elect a successor for Mandi Ballinger, a Republican member of the House from Canton who died in early October.
Wiedower resigned last week. Candidate qualification to succeed him as the representative for House District 121 is Thursday and Friday. A special runoff election, if needed, will occur Jan. 6.
Two other elections to replace departing lawmakers were already scheduled.
On Tuesday, voters in the Lawrenceville area will cast ballots in the election to fill the former House seat of Shelly Hutchinson, a Democrat who resigned in September. On Nov. 18, voters in west Atlanta and Smyrna will pick a successor for former state Sen. Jason Esteves, who resigned in September to run for the Democratic nomination for governor.
by Ty Tagami | Oct 31, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — Judges in two federal lawsuits Friday ordered President Donald Trump’s administration to continue funding its food assistance program during the government shutdown, but it was unclear how quickly payments would resume to recipients, who had been warned that no more money would be coming starting Saturday.
The news created some measure of relief — but also uncertainty — for communities and organizations that were preparing to fill the gap.
The group Feeding GA Families, with more than 30 locations across Georgia, called the court decisions “a moment of hope and relief,” but said in a statement that it would carry on with enhanced operations, anticipating a disruption in funding despite the judges’ orders due to “the complexity of the current situation and the potential for appeals or delay.”
The group’s CFO, Alicia Rivera, said while driving to middle Georgia Friday evening to hand out Halloween snacks and treats, that her group would continue sourcing products for families. Earlier in the week, she had been expecting a 25% to 50% increase in food requests in November.
“We are not changing our strategy because nothing is set in stone,” she said.
In metro Atlanta, DeKalb County Commissioner Ted Terry said officials were still expecting to increase the allocation to the local food program by 50%, by adding $500,000 to its $1 million budget at an upcoming meeting.
He remained worried that federal funding for SNAP would be constrained and did not expect DeKalb to change course just yet. He said more than 50,000 households — or about 100,000 people — qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, adding that an expanded county food budget of $1.5 million would still fall far short of the need.
“It really is a drop in the bucket. I mean we’re talking about tens of millions of dollars,” Terry said. “We can only stand in the gap so much and for so long.”
The announcement last week by the Trump administration that it would not fund SNAP during the shutdown led to political finger pointing.
Sen. Nabilah Islam Parkes, D-Duluth, called on Gov. Brian Kemp to tap the state’s more than $14 billion in reserves to buy food for the poor, suggesting that he declare a state of emergency.
Kemp said his hands were tied. Normally, the federal government uploads money onto electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards that SNAP recipients use to buy food. “There is no mechanism by which the state can replace benefits on customer cards,” his office said. Kemp’s office also said the federal government would not reimburse state funds spent on federal programs.
Yet other states were determined to intervene.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, declared a state of emergency then issued an executive order to fund EBT cards with state money.
“Due to Virginia’s prudent fiscal management we have available budget surplus to reduce disruptions in food access and ensure that Virginia’s families in need remain supported during the federal shutdown,” Youngkin’s office said Tuesday.
North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, announced that his state would grant $10M to food banks.
Roughly 1.4 million Georgians rely on SNAP, but a smaller group of vulnerable residents was not immediately exposed to the uncertainty with that program.
The Georgia Department of Public Health said Friday before the judges’ orders that the SNAP program for Women, Infants, and Children, known as Georgia WIC, probably had enough money to cover benefits through mid-November. That program covers pregnant women, new mothers and children up to age 5.
by Ty Tagami | Oct 30, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — While Georgia lawmakers consider new regulations for intoxicating hemp products, Attorney General Chris Carr is joining most of his peers across the country in a call for a federal law that would sweep the products from all store shelves.
Gas stations, convenience stores and other locations have been selling gummies, vapes and other products derived from the hemp plant that can get users just as high as smoking marijuana.
They can do this because of a 2018 federal law that legalized the industrial use of hemp. The problem that Carr and a bipartisan coalition of 38 other attorneys general cite in a letter to Washington lawmakers is an “inadvertent ambiguity” in that law that has been “wrongly exploited by bad actors.”
They sent their letter last week to members of Congress, including Susan Collins of Maine, the Republican chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. It says a crackdown on the psychoactive element of hemp will not harm the industrial hemp industry.
“Importantly, the prohibition on products containing intoxicating levels of THC—of any kind and no matter how it is derived—will not inhibit the cultivation of hemp for industrial and agricultural uses since hemp does not contain intoxicating levels of THC,” the Oct. 24 letter says.
Carr announced Wednesday that he had signed the letter, saying he was alarmed that poison control centers were reporting an increase in the number of children exposed to these substances.
“The public health consequences are stark and severe,” said the announcement from Carr’s office.
Hemp-related products are a growing market in Georgia. Breweries have been turning to THC beverages as beer sales sag.
State leaders recognize concerns about dangerous products but also want to support the new industry. Lawmakers met this summer to study concerns in hopes of crafting legislation to tighten regulations.
A revised federal law would pre-empt state efforts.
Christopher Lackner, president and CEO of the Hemp Beverage Alliance, a national group that represents companies across the country, including in Georgia, called the attorneys general letter “concerning.”
The industry agrees that high-potency products packaged to look like candy and marketed to children should be prohibited, Lackner said.
“But we can do that without destroying the thriving regulated hemp beverage industry that is already in place across the country,” he said.
The industry has become mainstream in many places, including in Minnesota, which has also legalized marijuana dispensaries. The attorney general there, Keith Ellison, posted a clarification online Wednesday about his decision to sign the letter to Congress, writing that it had “generated some confusion” and that he wants the local hemp products edible industry to thrive.
He wrote that Minnesota has tight regulations, but “highly potent” THC products have been entering the state from elsewhere.
“My intent in signing the letter is to urge Congress to close that loophole,” he wrote. “This will help prevent out-of-state companies from ignoring Minnesota’s carefully crafted THC regulations and selling harmful products in our state.”
Carr’s office said Thursday that he had no clarifications of his own to offer for why he signed the letter, which says “industry actors have nefariously misinterpreted” the 2018 law to create synthetic “Frankenstein THC products that get adults high and harm and even kill children.”
