USDA reaches SNAP benefits settlement, will work to expand emergency access

Roughly 1 million state residents will have access to emergency food benefits following a settlement reached this week in a lawsuit filed last year against the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Two plaintiffs, California residents Robin Hall and Steven Summers, filed the suit last May after they were denied emergency Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits because they already received the maximum monthly SNAP benefit amount, which was then $194.