DeWine signed an executive order directing the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services to give $7 million to several Ohio food banks and up to $18 million in emergency relief benefits to more than 63,000 Ohioans who are at or below 50% of the federal poverty level, the announcement says.
Approximately 1.4 million Ohioans receive a total of $264 million in food benefits from SNAP each month. The average monthly SNAP benefit per person is about $190, according to the state.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has said federal food aid will not go out Nov. 1. This came after the Trump administration announced it would not tap into nearly $5 billion in contingency funds to keep the food assistance program powered.
“The easiest and best way to help Ohioans in need of food assistance is for U.S. Senate Democrats to end its filibuster of SNAP benefits and other important federal programs and approve the clean continuing resolution passed by the U.S. House,” DeWine said in a press release.
To reporters, DeWine said he wanted to focus relief on “the poorest of the poor.”
“This is not a substitute for SNAP,” DeWine told reporters. “Not every family is going to get additional funds, but we wanted to target specifically those families where we thought they would really desperately need the money and need the funds.”
He said the funds are targeted at 57,000 children in the state. “They will get that every week for as long as this goes on,” he said.
This follows a rejection earlier this week by Republicans in the Ohio General Assembly of a proposal by Democrats to tap into the state’s nearly $4 billion “rainy day” or Budget Stabilization Fund to continue funding SNAP benefits in Ohio in the event of a federal lapse.
“This plan simply redirects resources to neighborhood food banks that work on the front lines with families who need help during this challenging time,” McColley said of why he supports his plan over Democrats’
“Although SNAP is a federally managed and federally funded program, Ohio is taking intentional steps to provide relief for those families who will be most impacted by the loss of these benefits,” Huffman said.
DeWine’s executive order directed ODJFS to allocate $7 million to regional food banks using Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds.
ODJFS will also allocate $18 million to effectively double the monthly benefit for the state’s more than 63,000 Ohio Works First recipients.
Ohio Works First provides assistance to low-income families with children — at or under 50% of the federal poverty level — using TANF funds, state officials said.
Roughly 1,982 households in Montgomery County are Ohio Works First recipients, according to the August 2025 caseload summary statistics report of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
This represents 3,267 people, the bulk of whom are children (3,039). And according to state data, the average monthly issuance from the program is $264.
OWF recipients will receive their usual monthly benefit on Nov. 1. And as long as SNAP benefits are unavailable during the month of November, they will receive an additional weekly benefit equaling approximately one quarter of their typical monthly allotment, according to a governor’s office press release.
State officials said providing benefits every week will allow Ohio to react appropriately when federal funding resumes.
“While we will always do everything we can to support Ohioans who need it most, this is not a viable, long-term solution,” said DeWine. “SNAP is a federal program that is specifically federally funded. The best solution remains the simplest one: pass the continuing resolution and reopen the federal government.”
“Governor DeWine’s approach allows us to allocate funds using ordinary distribution channels — providing targeted support to families in greatest need, while also assisting food banks, which can reach people quickly and directly,” said ODJFS Director Matt Damschroder.
ODJFS will move immediately to distribute funds to food banks. The department expects Ohio Works First recipients to begin receiving emergency relief benefits by Nov. 7.
The governor’s announcement came hours after the Montgomery County commission presented a $500,000 check to Foodbank Inc., which serves Montgomery, Greene and Preble counties. The award — the second provided to the region’s foodbank in recent months — was given to Foodbank Inc. in anticipation of an expected uptick in demand linked to a delay in federal food assistance benefits going out to local families.
State Sen. Willis Blackshear, D-Dayton, said during the check presentation on Thursday that state and federal leaders need to “step up” to ensure the veterans, people with disabilities, older Ohioans and children whom SNAP supports do not go hungry because of the federal shutdown.
“People are depending on us to make these decisions, and this is crucial,” he said.
