Nearly 42 million Americans – including 900,000 in Arizona – are entitled to get at least some of their food stamps in November.

But not right away.

U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani ruled Friday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture must use the approximately $5.25 billion it has in a contingency fund to make up for the fact that Congress has not approved a new budget for the agency.

The judge did not question the assertion of lawyers for the USDA that there isn’t enough to fully fund benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for the entire month, a figure the agency puts at between $8.5 billion and $9 billion. But she said it appears there is enough to allow for at least partial payments for recipients.

How quickly all that can occur, however, is unclear.

W

See Full Page