About 184,000 Long Islanders receive benefits through the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, according to the region's largest food banks.

Those individuals then spend what used to be called food stamps — amounting to more than $40 million a month — at local grocery stores and supermarkets.

Without fully funded benefits, Long Islanders are struggling to make ends meet, and area businesses — particularly smaller grocers — are missing expected revenue. Federal employees, including active military personnel, many of whom already received benefits through SNAP and now wonder whether their next paychecks will come, could feel a double impact. And while the Trump administration initially suggested Monday it would halfway fund SNAP for November, even that became uncerta

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