Marion County Dealing with Government Shutdown

The courts are involved in the suspension of SNAP benefits, due to the ongoing partial federal government shutdown. The Senate has voted 13 times to pass a continuing resolution to fund this benefit program, but it failed to gain 60 votes as Democrats opposed the measure. 

As of this writing Sunday afternoon, SNAP funding ran out as of Nov. 1, with no relief approved. 

“We're doing our best,” Pat Finan with Helping Hands in Knoxville told the Express. “So many of the folks we serve depend on SNAP, so we're seeing a lot more people taking advantage of their twice-monthly opportunity to get grocery and meat items. The majority of those we serve use our "client choice" process. They are being a lot more careful about what they choose, to make the best of what we share.” 

Knoxville Hy-Vee is reportedly trying to help. Chamber of Commerce Director Megan Bennett shared this: 

“Hy-Vee is offering a wonderful opportunity to help the community by serving or bussing with them Nov. 3-7,” Bennett wrote. “They are looking for volunteers from local businesses or interested individuals.” 

The food store chain, reported to have over $13 billion revenue in 2024, is offering $5 and $10 food donation bags available to purchase in store or online. Each bag includes essential pantry items that will be delivered to local food banks.

Dinner meals will be offered Nov. 3-7, will feature $3 nightly specials from 4-7 p.m. for all customers. Kids 12 and under will eat free. 

“The bigger challenge for us is that we can't give what we don't have, and we're having a harder time getting certain items from the Food Bank of Iowa,” Finan added. “Buying food from FBOI gives us the best buying power, so we encourage donors to share monetary donations instead of food donations whenever possible. But right now, because of cutbacks to USDA programs such as TEFAP, we're unable to buy basic things from FBOI like cereal, green beans and canned peaches. As we move into the winter months and also respond to greater needs due to SNAP cutbacks, we'll need more help from community donors.” 

Helping Hands recently ordered two extra pallets of food from the Food Bank, in addition to its regular order, in anticipation of greater demand. 

The Express reached out to the Pella Food Shelf for this article. No response was received. 

If your organization, or team members within your organization would be interested in volunteering time to serve or bus tables during this time, please call Hy-Vee at (641) 891-4717 and speak to Brittany or Linay.

On Friday, Gov. Kim Reynolds took action to help address the food insecurity concerns statewide. 

Reynolds directed Health and Human Services to use existing state funds to match all cash donations to Iowa’s six regional food banks up to $1 million dollars beginning Monday, Nov. 3. The food banks collectively serve 1,500 local partner agencies including food pantries across all 99 counties. 

Iowa’s three Medicaid managed care organizations – Iowa Total Care, Molina Healthcare of Iowa, and Wellpoint Iowa – have each committed to donate $100,000 to help support the state’s food banks. Hy-Vee also donated $100,000 to food banks in its regions, and Fareway and the Iowa Pork Producers Association teamed up to donate $20,000 worth of ground pork to food banks across the state.

Sen. Chuck Grassley’s Office shared these further Marion County Shutdown Impacts: 

SNAP  - 8.50% of households in Marion County receive food stamps through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). 

“Iowans are living their lives, working hard and raising their families. Their world doesn’t revolve around Congress,,” Grassley said. “But guess what? Senate Democrats are taking away their food stamps as leverage for unrelated political demands… I’m begging Senator Schumer to return the government to the American people, as it’s their government.”

WIC Program  - Women, infants and children in Marion County will also lose access to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, known as WIC, because of Democrats’ shutdown. While President Trump took action to temporarily stabilize the program, it’s unclear if the program will have enough money in November – putting food for children at risk.  

Farm Service Academy (FSA) Offices  - The Marion County FSA Office was CLOSED for the first three weeks of October, amid the height of harvest season. FSA office closures cut farmers off from critical credit and loan resources as they make planting decisions for next year. It also shuts off access to key conservation, commodity and disaster assistance.   

On October 21, President Trump took action to temporarily reopen FSA offices. However, this is a short-term fix; to ensure FSA offices are able to reopen and stay open – providing certainty for family farmers – Democrats must vote to fund the government. Many farm program payments are not being dispersed due to the laps in funding including farm loans.   

Military Service Members  - President Trump acted to temporarily ensure active duty military service members are paid, but it’s expected they’ll soon miss a paycheck if the shutdown continues. Senate Democrats are denying pay for 1,800 deployed Iowans who are currently serving our country overseas.   

Democrats have also blocked consideration of a bill to fully fund the Defense Department for Fiscal Year 2026, even after the bill received bipartisan approval in committee.

Aviation Network Safety (Air Traffic Controllers, TSA Agents)  - Due to the shutdown, Air Traffic Controllers and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers are working without pay, motivating many employees to call in “sick” and triggering a staffing shortage. This puts additional strain on the safety of America’s aviation system, especially as the holiday season approaches and travel demand increases.  

School Meals and Educational Programs  - The shutdown is putting Head Start programs in Iowa at risk. It’s expected the Community Action of Eastern Iowa in Davenport and the South-Central Iowa Community Action Program in Chariton will not receive their federal Head Start funding in November. This would impact services for 613 children and their families.   

Some states are also sounding the alarm that a further prolonged shutdown would leave them without enough money to reimburse the cost of free and reduced-price meals – leaving children hungry.  

Small Business Loans  - During a shutdown, the Small Business Administration (SBA) is unable to fully support America’s 36 million small businesses. SBA estimates that, each day the government is closed, 320 small businessesare stopped from accessing$170 millionin SBA-guaranteed funding. 99.3% of all businesses in Iowa are small businesses.  

National Flood Insurance Program  - The National Flood Insurance Program allows millions of Americans to secure flood coverage for their homes, and it’s the largest residential flood insurance program in the United States. However, amid the Democrats’ shutdown, the program has expired – leaving homeowners unable to access new coverage.  

Per USDA’s data found on their website, SNAP, on average, served about 41.7 million people per month, nationally in the calendar year 2024. In the state of Iowa, about 8-9.9% of the population received SNAP benefits that same year. 

According to Iowa Health and Human Services, 131,000 Iowa families rely on monthly SNAP benefits.