NY to Send Second SNAP Cards to Families with Two Heads of Households

By Yehudit Garmaise

Two SNAP benefit cards will be sent to New York homes in which two parents and/or guardians reside, thanks to the NY state legislature, which passed the bill in the finals days of the scheduled legislative session.

While the second card will not entitle recipients to additional benefits, the bill aims to provide more ease and convenience to New Yorkers who live in poverty and depend on their SNAP cards to feed their families. 

Before the passage of this bill, parents had to share one card, which was difficult, as both parents usually participate in grocery shopping, and had to pass their SNAP cards back and forth like a “relay-race baton,” said State Sen. Julia Salazar, who co-sponsored the bill with Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein.

“Families who receive SNAP benefits are already struggling to make ends meet and are living under constant pressure to feed their children,” said Assemblyman Eichenstein. “This legislation ensures that recipients will no longer have to endure the inconvenience of having two heads of household sharing just one card. 

“[By providing two cards, the state is providing] a simple, effective, and practical solution to a frustrating problem.”

“An additional SNAP card is a no-brainer, but for too long the attitude was that recipients should take what they get, and they shouldn’t be choosy,” said Rabbi David Niederman, President of the UJO of Williamsburg and North Brooklyn about the federal program that helps 1.8 million New Yorkers a year. “Thank you for making the statement that the disadvantaged also deserve a user-friendly, dignified system to utilize their benefits.”