1. United States
2. Utah
3. Letter

The Utah legislature needs to use 2% of Utah's 'rainy day' surplus to fund SNAP for November. Utah legislators/governor need to convene a special session to pass a bill to fund SNAP for November. From KUTV news: Gov. Spencer Cox said the state's "rainy day" fund has surpassed $1.5 billion for the year. The Department of Workforce Services said that, due to the government shutdown, they will be withholding SNAP funds, or food stamps, come November. They do not have an estimate of when funds will be restored and said it is up to the state legislature to decide if they will help cover the gap. In total, Utah receives 33 million federal dollars monthly to fund SNAP. That is about 2% of the money in the "rainy day" fund, officially called the Budget Reserve Account. The Budget Reserve Account is a pool of savings the state builds up during strong economic years. Lawmakers can tap into it during emergencies or major budget shortfalls to keep essential services running without raising taxes. A congressional spokesperson said that the fund could be used to temporarily cover the loss of SNAP benefits, but it would require a special legislative session and a passing vote in both the Utah House and Senate. Please do this and fund SNAP for Utahans for November.