This story first appeared in The Daily Illini on October 31, 2025.
(Photo by Lily Blodgett/The Daily Illini)
**Editor’s note: This article was published prior to two federal judges ruling Friday that the Trump administration must use contingency funds to pay for Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program benefits during the government shutdown. The article has been updated to reflect the judges’ rulings.**
Funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a federal program that provides food-purchasing assistance, will lapse Saturday should the government shutdown continue.
The suspension could affect millions of Illinoisans who rely on the long-running program. In a statement to The Daily Illini, the Illinois Department of Human Services confirmed that there are 1.9 million SNAP recipients in the state.
“While nothing can adequately replace the life-sustaining benefits of SNAP, the State of Illinois is currently evaluating options to support food insecure Illinoisans during this difficult time,” IDHS wrote in the statement.
On Thursday, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed an executive order allocating $20 million to Illinois food banks. The governor condemned President Donald Trump for using food assistance as a “political bargaining chip.”
U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, a Democrat who represents Illinois’ 13th Congressional District, criticized the Trump administration’s refusal to make use of emergency funds that would keep SNAP going during the shutdown.
“This administration has consistently said that our priorities are big corporations and giving tax breaks to the richest people in this country on the backs of those most vulnerable and the poorest and the middle class in this country, and it is unacceptable,” Budzinski said in an interview with The DI.
Partisan gridlock over a government funding package has led to the long-running shutdown. Democrats have insisted on the inclusion of healthcare and Medicaid provisions such as ACA tax credits in government spending packages, which Republicans have refused.
For their part, Republicans have criticized their Democrat counterparts for not agreeing to pass a “clean resolution” for government funding that would move such healthcare provisions to a separate bill.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul joined 24 other states Tuesday in a lawsuit against the Trump administration’s decision not to free up contingency funds meant for SNAP.
With 15% of its population enrolled last year, Illinois is among the top ten states by recipients, according to The Hill.
Budzinski said that nearly 18% of residents in the 13th District are enrolled in the program, and rely on it to “provide food for their tables, to eat … for children to not go hungry when they go to school or go to bed.”
According to Budzinski, there are 56,000 households in the 13th District, which includes Champaign-Urbana and the University.
Budzinski also said that almost 1.5 million students nationally rely on the program to make ends meet, including students at the University.
“(SNAP is) an important lifeline for students as well, and I’ve heard directly from students in the district about concerns around this,” Budzinski said.
Sophie Ellis, marketing and communications manager for the Eastern Illinois Food Bank in Urbana, which helps support and supply food banks in the area, said she expects to see longer lines at pantries following the suspension.
According to Ellis, the organization was already seeing an unprecedented demand for food before the SNAP suspension was announced, due to rising costs of living and previous SNAP reductions. She said pantries in the Eastern Illinois Food Bank’s network served 300% more customers in September compared to the same time last year.
“We know that the pantries working on limited resources are going to see those resources a bit more strained as the lines grow this month,” Ellis said.
Starting Tuesday, those with a SNAP card can receive free meals from The Literary, a cafe and bookstore in downtown Champaign, Tuesday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. The free menu includes three breakfast and three lunch items from the regular menu and the entirety of its kids’ menu.
Owner Jenny Shima told The DI the plan is to serve anyone in need.
“We are fortunate to have the support of our community in the form of their donations as well as just their general support, so that we can do more than we would have been able to do on our own,” Shima said. “Our plan is just to start serving people and see how it goes.”
Community members can add funds to a community gift card, which will help fund The Literary’s efforts. Shima said she has already received a few hundred dollars in donations.
“I have been completely overwhelmed by the response already, and I don’t overwhelm easy in general,” Shima said. “We have had an enormous outpouring of support.”
In Washington, D.C., politicians from both sides of the aisle have introduced legislation aiming to protect SNAP by encouraging the president to release the emergency funds needed.
Budzinski, who has been in Washington throughout the week, signaled she’s ready to be a part of any conversation that will reopen the government, but said Republicans have been “nowhere to be found” on the hill.
“We haven’t voted on the House floor in well over 30 days, and our Republican colleagues refuse to come here,” Budzinski said. “It is another example of a failure of Republican leadership that Speaker Mike Johnson refuses to call them back to Washington to do their job.”
UPDATE – Friday 4 p.m.
Two federal judges ruled Friday that the Trump administration must continue to fund SNAP using contingency funds during the government shutdown, the Associated Press reported.
U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani of Massachusetts ordered the administration to advise the court by Monday as to whether it will use the contingency funds to provide reduced SNAP benefits for November or fully fund the program using contingency funds and additional funds.
“This court has now clarified that Defendants are required to use those Contingency Funds as necessary for the SNAP program,” Talwani wrote in her decision.
The roughly $5.25 billion contingency fund is not enough to entirely cover SNAP benefits in November, which will cost the government more than $9 billion, The Hill reported Friday.
Benefits for millions of people are still expected to be delayed in November because the process of loading cards can take a week or more in many states. The Trump administration has not yet said whether it will appeal the judges’ rulings, according to the AP.
Resources
The University offers several food resources on campus, including the Food Assistance & Well-Being Program at the ARC, the LAS Undercover Food Pantry, Everybody Eats through University Housing and more.
Off-campus food resources include Wesley Food Pantry at Parkland College, the Eastern Illinois Food Bank, Daily Bread Soup Kitchen and others.
Several churches in C-U offer food pantries and community dinners, including the Community United Church of Christ’s Jubilee Cafe, the Vineyard Church’s Hope Center, Faith United Methodist Church and others.
The Eastern Illinois Food Bank also provides an online locator that allows users to find local pantries in their ZIP code or area.
Avery Paterson is an undergraduate student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a senior news reporter for The Daily Illini.
Aidan Sadovi is an undergraduate student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and an assistant news editor for The Daily Illini.