Millions of low-income Americans will lose access to SNAP food assistance on November 1, when half of the states plan to cut benefits because of the government shutdown.

Twenty-five states are issuing notices to inform participants of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the nation's largest hunger-relief initiative, who will not receive their checks next month.

These states include California, Arkansas, Hawaii, Indiana, Mississippi, and New Jersey, according to Politico, which requested the information and said other states did not respond in time for publication.

The Florida Department of Children and Families, for example, said that November SNAP benefits will not be issued until the shutdown ends.

In Texas, the state Health and Human Services Commission said that if the shutdown continues after Monday, November benefits will not be issued.

Gov. New York Democrat Kathy Hochul said in a statement October 16 that nearly 3 million residents in her state will lose access to SNAP benefits starting November 1.

The Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service recently informed all states that they will need to postpone benefit distributions until further notice, according to reports from multiple state agencies.

The government would need to raise more than $8 billion to keep SNAP benefits afloat if the shutdown continues.

"We simply can't do it without the government being open," Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in an interview with NewsNation Tuesday. "By November 1, we're very hopeful the government will reopen and we can start distributing that money. But right now, half of the states have SNAP closed."

With SNAP, which benefits more than 42 million people, families receive an average of $187.$20 a month to buy food.

According to the USDA, an average of 41.7 million people received benefits monthly in fiscal year 2024.

The suspension of benefits would take effect in the month that Thanksgiving falls and would increase the strain on food banks during a typically busy season.

With November 1 approaching, some state leaders are recommending that people turn to food banks or use their remaining benefits to buy non-perishable food items.

“If you have accumulated SNAP benefits from previous months in your account, use those funds now to buy non-perishable food items to last through November and beyond,” it advises the Arkansas Department of Human Services on its website.

Another food assistance program, WIC, which provides free food to low-income pregnant women, mothers, and children under 5, is also in danger of experiencing a funding shortfall in November due to the closure.