Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order Saturday directing additional city resources to local organizations and businesses affected by the lapse in funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program amid the historic 43-day government shutdown.
Speaking Saturday during a food distribution event at Aspire Center for Workforce Innovation, 5500 W. Madison St. in Austin, Johnson said, “My administration is implementing emergency procedures to ensure safety and security for Chicagoans that are navigating cuts to SNAP and the delays in food assistance and necessary care due to the longest government shutdown in our nation’s history.”
Johnson said the order “mobilizes city departments and allows us to partner with philanthropic partners to get food into the neighborhoods where it is needed most.”
Johnson also announced a micro-grant program to support local retailers and restaurants that have been “hit by the one-two punch of reduced SNAP purchasing power, fear-driven drops in foot traffic from escalated immigration enforcement, and rising requests for free and donated goods.”
It wasn’t immediately clear specifically how much in resources was being directed to businesses. The mayor’s office didn’t immediately return a request for follow-up comment. Johnson is currently trying to put his 2026 proposed budget to bed by Thanksgiving amid opposition to his plan to impose a corporate head tax.
Lead steward Anton Seals of Grow Greater Englewood said the executive order would allow organizers to meet the needs of the community.
“People need food, so it cannot just be a for-profit mission,” he said.
“It’s also about public health. The impact on the nutrition that people are able to get is super-important, so we have to continuously do better.”
SNAP funds in Illinois and across the country were delayed and then reduced during the shutdown.
President Donald Trump signed a bill Wednesday night that funds SNAP through next September. The signing came after federal officials said in October that the U.S. Department of Agriculture would not fund SNAP benefits in November due to the shutdown, setting off a chaotic situation that unfolded in court as two dozen states, including Illinois, sued the Trump administration over its withhold funding amid the shutdown.
Two judges ruled last month the government must provide at least partial funding for SNAP, with one of the judges saying it must fund the program fully for November. The Supreme Court then extended an order blocking full SNAP payments before Congress passed a bill last week to reopen the government.
Across the state, there are 1.8 million people who get SNAP benefits each month, receiving about $370 on average, according to the Illinois Department of Human Services.
Residents who rely on the program should receive full benefits by Thursday, according to IDHS.
Food pantries across the Chicago area were unable to match the need created by the $350 million lapse in monthly federal funding for people and families across the state, creating “unnecessary hardship,” state officials have said.
Johnson said his executive order would also address the SNAP “benefits cliff.”
“Even as the federal government reopens, families who rely on SNAP will face steep challenges in December because of this nasty bill that was passed over the summer,” Johnson said, referring to Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.”
“It tightens eligibility and it expands work requirements, changes that will push thousands of our neighbors off this program and leave many more struggling to afford the basic food that all of our families deserve,” Johnson said.
Some of the hardest-hit communities with the most SNAP recipients in the Chicago area include the West Side neighborhoods of Austin, North Lawndale, East Garfield Park and West Garfield Park, according to a WBEZ analysis of census data. About 67,600 people there receive SNAP benefits, with 45% living in a household that receives SNAP.
Following the government shutdown, Grow Greater Englewood and other community groups set up emergency food distribution pop-ups to assist families struggling to make ends meet.
Grow Greater Englewood, Englewood Food Sovereignty Network and the Greater Chicago Food Depository handed out over 300 boxes of dry goods at a drive-up food giveaway event Saturday afternoon in Englewood.
Anton Seals lead steward with Grow Greater Englewood, stands at an emergency food giveaway Saturday. Seals said policy changes under the Trump administration, combined with rising grocery prices, have created a gap in support that organizations like his are now trying to fill.
Candace Dane Chambers/Sun-Times
Seals said the week before they distributed double the amount.
Seals said the food distribution aims to support residents who may not have received their full SNAP benefits on Nov. 1 or who are otherwise facing food insecurity.
Seals said policy changes under the Trump administration’s “Big Ugly Bill,” combined with rising grocery prices, have created a gap in support that organizations are now trying to fill.
“It’s not just poor people,” said Seals. “Groceries are expensive, and if your income has not risen in the same way to keep up with inflation and cost, where do you go? You may not qualify for SNAP benefits.”
Contributing: AP