JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville councilman said Friday that he will be crafting legislation to formally request $2 million in emergency funding to help local families impacted by the disruption of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits amid the federal government shutdown.
Councilman Rahman Johnson held an emergency meeting at City Hall to address the impact of the suspension of SNAP benefits and explore some possible options to help families in need.
“This is about dollars, dignity and decisions,” Johnson said. “And Jacksonville is not going to abandon our people, our neighbors, to bureaucracy.”
RELATED | City releases data on SNAP delay effect on local businesses, households | The shutdown is affecting those who rely on SNAP. But those who don’t say they’re also struggling with high food costs
Johnson, who was joined by Councilwoman Ju’Coby Pittman and Councilman Reggie Gaffney Jr., said he would like to see $2 million allocated to help those impacted by the SNAP suspensions. He also proposed some possible sources where the money could come from:
Option 1
- A proposed legislation on workforce development, which includes millions of dollars for renovations to the University of North Florida and Edward Waters University and more, includes $3 million in funds that could come from the Tourist Development Council (TDC). Johnson said if that’s the case, the city council could allocate $1 million from the $3 million to fund half of the amount requested.
- The other half would come from the reserve.
Option 2
- Request $2 million from the reserve.
Johnson said if approved, he wants the funds to primarily go to Feeding Northeast Florida.
“We will gather, we will plan, and we will act,” he said.
Dr. Parvez Ahmed, Chief of Analytics for the City of Jacksonville, joined the councilmembers during the meeting to go through some of the data and identify the areas that need the most help.
According to the data, District 10, which is Pittman’s district, has the highest percentage of households receiving SNAP benefits, at 14.5%.
Pittman said she is concerned $2 million won’t be enough to address the population’s needs.
“I must say, this is a crisis,” Pittman said. “This reminds me of COVID.”
Here’s a breakdown of the percentages of households that rely on SNAP benefits, per ZIP code.
Another major concern that Gaffney and Pittman raised was the lack of access to food pantries in some districts, particularly for people without transportation who cannot reach food distributions held in parts of town outside their districts.
Johnson, who serves on the Jacksonville Transportation Authority board as a city council liaison, said he’s had conversations with officials to facilitate transportation for those in need.
“This is an emergency,” Johnson said. " JTA stands ready to do what we need to do."
Johnson said the legislation would need a 13-vote supermajority for it to move forward.
“We want to be clear. We are not here because Washington failed. We are here because Jacksonville will not fail. Food is not a partisan benefit; it’s a human right,” Johnson said.
News4JAX spoke with a SNAP recipient after the meeting who said he’s concerned about food. He’s running low on supplies and is worried he won’t get his benefits on the 15th.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do then, I ain’t going to have no more food,” James Williams said. “Guess I’ll have to go to the food bank if I can find where they’re located at. It’ll be hard for me to get there because I ain’t got no car.”
It’s why he said he’s appreciative of what Johnson is trying to do.
“That would be nice if they put something where we could get something to eat,” Williams said.