Caleb
Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist
Mark
Rabago, RNZ Pacific Commonwealth of the
Northern Marianas correspondent
People are currently
working without pay in the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)
and the threat of food benefits halting looms as the United
States shutdown reaches the 30-day mark.
The US
government went into shutdown on 1 October after Republicans
and Democrats in Congress failed to pass appropriations
funding government services.
It has meant the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known
as food stamps, is expected to stop being funded from the
beginning of next month.
It follows the US Department
of Agriculture, which oversees the programme, has said it
does not have the money to pay US$8 billion for the benefits
in November.
US territory Guam has plugged the hole by
approving US$13.1 million to keep food programmes afloat for
November.
Department of Public Health and Social
Services deputy director Amanda Shelton told Guam lawmakers
during a special meeting last week to address shutdown
concerns that food stamps and benefits for women, infants
and children (WIC) were at risk.
Francine Salas, chief
human services administrator for the Division of Public
Welfare said she did not know when federal food programmes
would be back up and running.
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“I cannot even tell you
when we would anticipate any of the shutdowns to end… we
truly do not know and in the meantime, people are hungry and
people need to get food to feed their family.”
In the
CNMI, RNZ Pacific’s correspondent Mark Rabago said the
shutdown has meant many people in the territory have been
forced to stop working, while others are just not getting
paid.
“In fact, I talked to somebody a friend of mine,
he works for US Citizenship and Immigration Services, and he
said although he’s still working, he’s not receiving a pay
cheque, so that’s how bad it is. He’ll just get back pay
whenever that’s available, so it’s messed up.”
The US
territory is already in a bad economic place.
“Budget
is low, tourists are not coming and then of course our
governor died last August or July so it’s been a tough year,
tough few months for the CNMI and this shutdownisn’t giving
us good vibes coming into thanksgiving, into
Christmas.”
Meanwhile, CNMI Delegate Kimberlyn
King-Hinds has urged the US Department of Agriculture (USDA)
to authorise the use of unspent Commonwealth Nutrition
Assistance Program funds to sustain food assistance during
the ongoing US federal government shutdown.
In a
letter to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins,
King-Hinds appealed for flexibility that would allow the
CNMI to use carryover funds from prior-year appropriations
to continue benefits for the 5,500 households and 14,000
individuals who rely on NAP each month.
“The CNMI
program currently has unspent balances from prior-year
appropriations that remain legally available, pending USDA
approval to carry them forward,” King-Hinds wrote. “Allowing
these funds to be used would ensure that benefits continue
to reach eligible households through the EBT system without
interruption.”
He noted that the program’s suspension
has already forced the CNMI government to mull reallocating
$3.9 million in local funds to prevent families from going
without food aid-an unsustainable measure that highlights
the urgency of USDA action.
In the Marshall Islands,
RNZ Pacific correspondent Giff Johnson said Compact of Free
Association money is still flowing.
“Just last week,
almost $45 million in health and education and other related
funding was provided by the US under the compact as well as
the third annual $200 million contribution to the compact
trust fund,” Johnson said.
He said for the Marshall
Islands, Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia the
biggest impact would be on Micronesians living in the US who
rely on food benefits.
“42 million people in the US
are going to lose these benefits and frankly, my
understanding is quite a lot of Micronesians, Marshallese
and Palauans qualify for that and depend on
it.”
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