After weeks of uncertainty, South Dakota SNAP enrollees are seeing a portion of November payments in their accounts.
The South Dakota Department of Social Services said partial benefits were loaded onto EBT cards overnight and should be available Wednesday. The remainder of November payments will go out at a later date.
Roughly 37,000 households in the state are eligible for the food assistance program. DSS officials said the amount beneficiaries receive are based on federal calculations so the amount will vary by household.
SNAP payments had been caught in a long-term political battle over the federal government shutdown. The fate of November payments swung back and forth as the Trump Administration challenged various court orders requiring payments to be made. The situation seemed to finally resolve as a group of Democratic senators agreed to back a spending bill that would reopen the government.
"When the federal shutdown ends and all benefits are restored, DSS plans to issue the equivalent of remaining payments through a second installment of SNAP benefits," a DSS statement said.
The DSS encouraged SNAP recipients to check their balances through the EBT app or portal.