Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday declared a state of emergency and committed $65 million in new state funding for food programs as New York prepares for a federal cutoff in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for nearly 1.8 million NYC residents on Saturday.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has refused to release federally approved contingency funds during the ongoing government shutdown, leaving states to manage the fallout.

That decision has drawn widespread criticism, with opponents calling it a political ploy by the Trump Administration, and it is now the subject of a legal battle that argues that the USDA has access to more than $6 billion in contingency funds that Congress specifically set aside to maintain food assistance during funding lapses, but has

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