Two federal programs that were instituted during the COVID-19 pandemic are slated to end, according to the Utah Department of Workforce Services (DWS). The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) emergency allotment and the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, both temporary federal pandemic emergency assistance programs, will end in the coming months.
“These programs have helped thousands of Utah residents to make it through the economic challenges brought about by the pandemic,” said Nate McDonald, deputy director of DWS. “But we have always known these programs would be temporary, and, fortunately, Utah’s economy has thousands of job opportunities for those who are looking.”
Utah’s most recently published job growth rate is 2.6 percent and the unemployment rate is 2.2 percent.
When the federal government declared a public health emergency at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, it allowed for an emergency increase in monthly SNAP or food stamps benefits to SNAP-eligible recipients. The omnibus bill recently passed by Congress included the end date for SNAP emergency allotment as February 2023.
Beginning in March 2023, all 74,000 households in Utah that receive SNAP benefits will no longer receive the federal SNAP emergency allotment, returning SNAP benefits to their pre-pandemic level.
As part of the American Rescue Plan, Utah received $344 million in federal Emergency Rental Assistance funds, helping individuals pay their rent and utilities during the pandemic. The program launched March 15, 2021. The federal funds are anticipated to be exhausted by the end of March. Applications for Emergency Rental Assistance will no longer be available after Feb. 5.