Governor Kevin Stitt and Legislative leaders convened an emergency meeting of the State Contingency Review Board to allocate money from the State Emergency Fund to help with increased demand for services on food banks. The action is a result of the partial federal government shutdown causing SNAP benefits not to be paid to families at the beginning of November.
Stitt said this is a problem created by Congress.
“We just want to continue to encourage Congress to fix this problem. I’m proud of the Oklahoma delegation we have. There’s been about 13 votes in Oklahoma. Delegation voted to open the government every single time, what’s called a clean CR meeting. It was Biden era funding levels. They’re just asking to continue to fund the government. And 13 times they’re short the votes to pass it. So I think there’s six votes short right now in the Senate. And, we’ve been preparing for this for the last three weeks,” said Stitt opening the meeting.
Stitt, Senate President Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton, and House Speaker Kyle Hilbert make up the Contingency Review Board. If there is an emergency expense not foreseen during the Legislative session, the Board can allocate certain emergency funds to meet needs.
The Board approved the use of the State Emergency Fund to bolster food banks during the SNAP freeze.
You can watch the Contingency Board Review meeting below.
