The last food stamp payments just went out

• begin quote from:

• The last food stamp payments just went out

  

  INTERACTIVE

  As the shutdown continues, people across the US face real hardships. Here's what could go away next.

• Democrats tell Trump: Reopen the government. Then we'll talk border security.

• Analysis: Why Trump's plan won't end the government shutdown

• GOP lawmaker: This is an idiotic shutdown

• Fact-checking Trump's border speech and DACA offer

• John Avlon fact-checks Trump's border proposal 

• 10% of TSA employees called out Sunday

• 91 (and counting) very real direct effects of the shutdown

• SHUTDOWN WATCH • 

  The US government has been partially shut down for

   

  30d 11h 28m 32s

  Shutdown: What comes next

  By Z. Byron Wolf and Curt Merrill, CNN

  Updated January 16, 2019

   
   

  The effects of the ongoing partial lapse in government funding continue to mount, but placing them on a calendar remains difficult. Some agencies, including the federal courts, have dug deep to locate funds to keep day-to-day operations running and their workers paid. Others have almost completely shut down. Here are some key dates to remember:

  DECEMBER 22a month ago

  Shutdown started

  JANUARY 1110 days ago

  💵 Federal pay date

  JANUARY 156 days ago

  💵 Coast Guard pay date

  Thousands of workers recalled

  Thousands of Internal Revenue Service, Food and Drug Administration and Federal Aviation Administration employees were recalled from furlough to work without pay to process tax returns and conduct food and airline safety.

  JANUARY 20a day ago

  Final food stamps payment for now

  Food stamps will be paid through February, but in order to get funds, states will have to pay February payments early, by or before January 20, which could create confusion for recipients who receive an abnormally large payment that is intended to last an extra month.

  • BY THE NUMBERS
  • Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefit recipients in 2018: 40.3 million
  • Total benefits paid through SNAP in 2018: 60.6 billion
  • Monthly benefits paid (as of September 2018): About $4.8 billion
  • Average monthly benefit per person: $125.25

  JANUARY 25in 4 days

  💵 Federal pay date

  Federal courts run out of money

  US federal courts will run out of operating money on Friday, January 25, according to a statement from their administrative office. Court offices had been able to stay operational by halting some services, suspending hirings and more. They have twice extended the date at which they’ll run out of money after previously setting January 11 and January 18. Now, the courts say that after January 18, they will have to furlough some employees and declare others essential under the Anti-Deficiency Act, which is a federal law that prohibits the government from spending money that isn’t appropriated by Congress. Criminal cases are expected to continue despite a lapse in funds, but many federal courts have already begun delaying civil cases involving the federal government. It’s not clear if possible furloughs would affect any other court operations or deadlines.

  • BY THE NUMBERS
  • Number of federal courts: 94 district courts, 13 circuit courts
  • Civil cases filed in federal courts in 2018 (not counting appeals): 282,936
  • Bankruptcy cases filed in federal courts in 2018: 773,375

  JANUARY 28in 7 days

  Tax returns will go out

  The IRS has pledged to recall furloughed workers and to begin accepting tax filings on schedule on January 28. Their goal is to honor Tax Day on April 15 and to pay tax refunds on time. If the shutdown continues and those many thousands of IRS workers are recalled from furlough, they’ll be entering their second month without a paycheck.

  • BY THE NUMBERS
  • Tax filings collected in 2018 spring filing season (excluding extensions): 136,359,149

  JANUARY 30in 9 days

  GDP report could be incomplete or delayed

  It's unlikely the Bureau of Economic Analysis will be able to publish the gross domestic product (GDP) report due on January 30 if the shutdown continues. It would cover the fourth quarter of 2018. The agency, which is housed under the Commerce Department, hasn't issued any new reports since the shutdown began, including one on the US trade deficit. A number of financial reports have been affected, including, as two examples, a January 11 Department of Agriculture report on markets, a trade report on the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement that could delay its consideration by Congress.

  Federal housing assistance contracts are expiring

  The federal government helps fund low income housing through project-based rental assistance contracts.There are many of thousands of these nationwide and the contracts with landlords are expiring on a rolling basis. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has asked landlords to dip into reserve funds for the time being. An advocacy network has mapped where the contracts are expiring.

  • BY THE NUMBERS
  • People living in Section 8 contract-subsidized housing (2017): 1.2 million households
  • Average household income: $12,505
  • Average monthly HUD expenditure: $769

  FEBRUARY 1in 11 days

  💵 Coast Guard pay date

  FEBRUARY 8in 18 days

  💵 Federal pay date

  FEBRUARY 14in 24 days

  Financial statements for companies waiting on the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering (IPO) are no longer valid. This could affect Uber and Lyft.

  LATE FEBRUARY

  FDA drug review operations

  The Food and Drug Administration has roughly five weeks of funding left to review new drug applications during the shutdown, FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb said on Twitter.

  Experts say this could have a ripple effect, bogging down the approval and manufacture of new drugs, delaying patients from getting new treatments and adding to a host of other crucial FDA actions and oversight that have taken a hit during the shutdown.

  BEGINNING OF MARCH

  Women, infants and children (WIC) nutrition program

  The program giving supplemental assistance to low income mothers and children in need is funded through February. Assistance is provided to more than 7 million participants each month, most of them children and infants.

  • BY THE NUMBERS
  • Monthly expenditures (as of September 2018): $462 million
  • Average monthly benefit: $41

  BEGINNING OF APRIL

  School lunches

  In addition to paying food stamps early, Agriculture Department funds to states to fund school lunch programs through March.