UPDATE: Two federal judges ruled Friday that the Trump administration must use contingency funds to continue to issue food stamps during the government shutdown. Government assistance programs launched by Hawaiʻi to support SNAP recipients and other residents impacted by the shutdown will continue regardless, officials said after the rulings.
Hawaiʻi residents whose November food stamps have been halted by the federal shutdown are eligible to get $250 each from the state through an emergency program Gov. Josh Green announced Thursday.
The $42.2 million initiative will fill a gap in food stamp benefits caused by the shutdown and the Trump administration’s decision to not use contingency funds to cover November costs for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
The Hawaiʻi Food Assistance Program will give $250 to every current food stamp recipient in the state — automatically placing the funds on existing SNAP debit cards by Nov. 14. A family of four that has been getting SNAP would receive $1,000, Green said during a media briefing at his State Capitol office.
“This will help people because we do not have any guarantees right now that the federal government is going to open again this week, next week, we just don’t know,” Green said. “And a lot of people are going to be hungry if they don’t get their SNAP benefits.”
Hawaiʻi SNAP recipients received an average of $343 a month in September, according to the state Department of Human Services. About $58 million in SNAP benefits are delivered statewide to recipients’ automatic debit cards starting the first of each month.
Almost 162,000 Hawaiʻi residents get monthly SNAP benefits, Green said.
In a sign of how the shutdown is squeezing people, registration for a Hawaiʻi Foodbank emergency food distribution scheduled for Friday in Waipahu hit its limit in three hours after 400 households signed up. Other distributions are scheduled and the Foodbank plans to add more.
‘Kuleana Awakens The Mana’
The emergency measure — one of three special funds formed in Hawaiʻi to soften financial blows caused by the monthlong shutdown — will take effect even if the impasse in Washington, D.C., ends and SNAP benefits quickly resume, Green said.
“Even if the federal government gets their act together and somehow resolves their differences, we’re going forward with this because people are really hurting and it’s been a tough couple months,” Green said.
The assistance fund is financed by $28 million from the state’s general fund and $13 million in excess funds for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, the federally funded, state-managed cash aid program for low-income residents. The state has banked more than $400 million in unused TANF funds over the years.
A separate $100 million Hawaiʻi Relief Fund announced Wednesday will help eligible residents with dependent children under 18 make housing and utility payments. That program is open to any eligible resident, including people whose paychecks have been interrupted by the shutdown, not only people who get SNAP. To qualify, a household has to also be below 300% of the federal poverty line; for a family of four, that’s an annual income of just under $111,000.
The relief fund is entirely financed by TANF funds.
The Office of Hawaiian Affairs has also announced a $6.1 million emergency fund for Native Hawaiians affected by the shutdown, including people who get SNAP.
About 47,000 Native Hawaiians receive SNAP benefits, according to OHA, and about 5,000 of the nearly 25,000 federal employees in the state are Native Hawaiian.
OHA Board of Trustees Chair Kaialiʻi Kahele, who also spoke at Thursday’s press conference, evoked the memory of Twinkle Borge, a Hawaiian activist and homeless advocate who led a large community in Waiʻanae and died in 2024.
“Our beloved Twinkle Borge, a fierce advocate for our houseless community, once shared, ‘Kuleana awakens the mana inside us,'” Kahele said. “That’s what we’re seeing today, people awakening their mana, answering the call here to serve.”
Full details about that fund, including eligibility and application guidelines, will be announced soon, he said.
Program Could Be Extended
Green said the emergency food assistance money will benefit the entire state and suggested the program could be extended if necessary.
“The monies are going to be spent in our local businesses, in grocery stores and small mom and pop shops almost immediately,” he said. “If we have to, we will come back. We’re not going to let anyone suffer.”
The Green administration has also directed $2 million to the Hawaiʻi Foodbank to help support and boost its operations statewide.
“I hope to God we’re not still in a shutdown come 2026, because that will change everything for us.” - Gov. Josh Green
Green’s move to commit millions to provide emergency funding for SNAP recipients does not include an extra $200 million that state lawmakers set aside this year as a hedge against federal budget cuts.
Green would need an appropriation by the Legislature to spend any of that money — which is less likely now because of lower than projected tax revenues — and he said he is not inclined to call the Legislature back to the Capitol for a special session this year.
Instead, the relief money comes from state general funds that were appropriated to state departments for various uses but were withheld by the Green administration as a reserve in case it was needed later.
“The amount of monies we needed was manageable within our budget,” Green told reporters. “We certainly have adequate monies across departments to carve out this $28,567,000. So, we didn’t need to have a special session, we were able to work it out just in collegial discussions.”
Green also observed the Legislature will be back in regular session in about 10 weeks, and can take any further emergency actions that are necessary then.
“We’re committed to getting people through the holidays with this resource,” he said, “and then we’ll have the Legislature back in full force, and that empowers us in all sorts of additional ways to bring large amounts of extra resources.”
“I hope to God we’re not still in a shutdown come 2026, because that will change everything for us,” he said.
Hawaii has joined about 24 states that have sued the Trump administration to force it to pay out November SNAP benefits. That lawsuit is still being heard in federal court.
How To Apply For State Aid
For more information about either the Hawaiʻi Food Assistance Program or the Hawaiʻi Relief Fund, call 211, a hotline run by Aloha United Way. Green said 250 people are staffing the line from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
The human services department is partnering with Catholic Charities Hawaiʻi to manage the relief fund and application process on Oʻahu, the county of Hawaiʻi and Kauaʻi. The nonprofit partner for Maui County is Maui Economic Opportunity.
Aid payments will go directly to utility companies and landlords or lenders, in the case of mortgages — and will not affect income eligibility for other benefit programs. Applicants will need to provide documents including government-issued identification, proof of income and lease or mortgage statements.
For more information, Oʻahu, Big Island and Kauaʻi residents can also reach Hawaiʻi Relief Fund staff at 808-521-4357, extension 1, or hrp.mail@catholiccharitieshawaii.org. To apply online, go here.
In Maui County, call 808-243-4357 for information, email Housing.utility@meoinc.org or go to this website. To apply online go here.
Civil Beat’s reporting on economic inequality is supported by the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation as part of its work to build equity for all through the CHANGE Framework; and by the Cooke Foundation.