Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has said he can’t risk dipping into the state’s $3.5 billion cash balance to fund vital food assistance programs that are due to run out of federal money.

The Democratic governor has another option for emergency funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP: the state’s $2 billion Rainy Day Fund.

With the federal government shutdown continuing and funding running dry, hundreds of thousands of Marylanders risk losing money for groceries in November if funding isn’t found.

There are more than 680,000 Marylanders in the SNAP program, receiving an average of $180 per month, putting the total monthly cost in the range of $125 million.

Asked whether the governor would use the Rainy Day Fund for SNAP, Moore spokesman David Turner wrote in a statement: “The Rainy Day Fund is one budget source that may be accessible under emergency circumstances.”

The use of the Rainy Day Fund is expected to be one of the options that state lawmakers will weigh during a hearing on SNAP funding Wednesday afternoon. Moore’s new budget secretary, Yaakov “Jake” Weissmann, and legislative director Jeremy Baker are scheduled to attend the virtual hearing.

Governors have tapped the Rainy Day Fund — officially called the Revenue Stabilization Account — in recent years, including Moore.

When a cargo ship struck Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge and sent it collapsing into the Patapsco River in 2024, Moore declared a state of emergency and issued an executive order directing $60 million in state funds — including $25 million from the Rainy Day Fund — to be used to support affected businesses and workers.

Former Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, used the Rainy Day Fund, too. During a state of emergency at the peak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, Hogan authorized $250 million from the Rainy Day Fund to help small businesses.

David Brinkley, Hogan’s budget secretary, said it makes sense for the state to consider using state money, such as the Rainy Day Fund, as an option for SNAP.

“If the government function in this case is truly supposed to be a social safety net, then step up to the plate,” Brinkley said.

Daniel Hatcher, a University of Baltimore law professor and poverty researcher, said that while SNAP funding is a federal responsibility, states should provide stopgap funding even if they don’t get reimbursed.

States have a “moral and ethical obligation” to help people in need, he said. Additionally, the SNAP program has rippling economic benefits, including supporting stores that sell groceries to SNAP participants.

Ensuring the social safety net is the “whole purpose of government,” Hatcher said. “If government doesn’t exist for that, then what does it exist for?”

LaMonika Jones, director of Maryland Hunger Solutions, said the federal government is responsible for funding SNAP benefits, not states.

Failing to fund food nutrition programs, she said, takes “food out of the mouths of children.” Of the 680,000 Marylanders receiving SNAP, more than 260,000 — nearly 40% — are children.

“A child can’t go to work and is dependent on their parents or guardians to buy food for them,” she said.

Republican President Donald Trump’s administration has declined to use a contingency fund at the U.S. Department of Agriculture to keep SNAP funds flowing. The administration has argued that the contingency fund, estimated between $5 billion and $6 billion, is for emergencies and disasters, not for government shutdowns.

The USDA further has said that states covering SNAP costs should not expect to be reimbursed.

Kyle Ross, policy analyst for the left-leaning Center for American Progress, said it would be unprecedented for the federal government to withhold SNAP reimbursement to states.

“They have the resources available to make sure that none of this chaos happens,” he said. “It is a choice. It is, frankly, a choice to let this happen, to let states scramble.”

Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, meanwhile, is among state attorneys general suing the Trump Administration, arguing that the federal government’s cancellation of benefits is unlawful.

Other states are turning to emergency statutes in anticipation of SNAP money running out.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, declared a state of emergency last week to facilitate funding for food aid.

Youngkin plans to issue state-funded benefits on a weekly basis to Virginians’ SNAP cards, with beneficiaries receiving one-fourth of their typical monthly benefit each week. The state is also sending an extra $1 million to food banks.

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican, issued an executive order last week directing the state to pay for SNAP for the first few days of November. Meanwhile, state lawmakers there are working on a more expansive plan to continue SNAP for a longer period.