The government is shut down because Congress can’t agree on a spending plan for next year, but the shutdown might end this week, and SNAP payments might be why. SNAP and EBT payments were supposed to run out of money this weekend, and many recipients are threatening to riot in blue cities when they do. If anything positive has come from the government shutdown, it is the discussion of SNAP benefits, which illustrates that the government doesn’t spend our money very wisely.

SNAP, formerly known as food stamps, is a program that provides food to low-income people. EBT is a government-provided debit card system that is used to pay for SNAP and another government food assistance program called TANF, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. These programs were supposed to run out of funding on Saturday; however, on Friday, a federal judge ordered the USDA to use funds it had set aside for emergencies like hurricane relief to continue funding these food programs. However, even if this relief funding happens, the $5.25 billion emergency fund will not be enough to fund SNAP through November, and soon, low-income people will have these assistance programs halted.

Nobody can deny that our country should be compassionate to poor people who need food assistance; however, the government shutdown has illuminated that there is a large amount of fraud and waste in these programs intended to help them.

In fiscal year 2024, the government SNAP program gave away $100.3 billion in food subsidies. Naturally, when large sums of money like these are involved, people find ways to take advantage of them. One example is the announcement earlier this year of the arrest of six individuals who stole over $66 million in unauthorized SNAP program transactions. One of them was a USDA employee who administers the program. She joined with five others to steal government funds for their own benefit, but they were caught. We should applaud the arrest and possible conviction of these individuals, but you have to wonder how many other similar types of fraud in this program are out there.

Another example of how these programs are misused is when non-Americans take advantage of them. There are debates about just how many people on SNAP are not American citizens, but the most accurate answer seems to be ~11%. Unfortunately, non-citizens are not eligible to receive SNAP, so when they fraudulently apply and are accepted as beneficiaries, it increases the cost of the program.

Privatization might be the solution. We will always have poor people, but the challenge is how to help them without wasting tax dollars. While some form of government assistance may be necessary, the unfortunate truth is that with the possible exception of the military, the government doesn’t do anything really well.

The DMV is a great example of how privatization could work. I can think of nothing worse than going to the DMV to conduct a transaction. It typically involves wasting a good part of my afternoon. Fortunately, the state has allowed private companies to take on many tasks performed by the DMV, and they do a much better job. While the DMV is a state government function, the fact that it can be privatized might be an example the federal government could use for providing food assistance.

Here in Homer, we have a local food pantry run out of the Methodist Church. This program provides essential food relief to those in need and is run by a trusted organization. Any program that gives money away can be susceptible to fraud, but I suggest that ones run by a church might be more trustworthy. Perhaps we should move away from badly run government agencies and toward funding assistance agencies like our local food bank. I bet if you took all of the SNAP payments given to local needy people in the Homer area, cut that amount in half, and gave it to the Homer Community Food Pantry, the government would save money, and every poor person would get fed, probably eating better than they do now.

Maybe this is a simplistic argument, but there must be better options than what we are currently doing. Perhaps using the privatization model is the direction we should go, and the current government shutdown is the time to begin the debate about the best way to use government tax dollars

This weekend’s hubbub about SNAP and EBT reminds me of the famous Reagan quotation. He said the nine most terrifying words in the English language are: “I’m from the Government, and I’m here to help.”

The views expressed here are those of Greg Sarber. Read more Sarber posts at his Seward’s Folly substack.

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