Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Tuesday, Oct. 28, outlined the parameters of the Virginia Emergency Nutrition Assistance (VENA) initiative, a Commonwealth-supported food assistance effort established by Executive Order 54, declaring a state of emergency due to the federal shutdown.
He also announced an additional $1 million of state funds will be provided to Virginia food banks in order to offset any temporary disruption as VENA launches at the beginning of November.
“The VENA effort will be very similar to SNAP — but it is a complex, challenging solution. However, we must ensure our most vulnerable Virginians are not without basic nutrition,” he continued.
“Both of Virginia’s U.S. Senators are former Virginia governors who know our state well, and they could vote to end this shutdown right now. I once again call on Sen. Mark Warner and Sen. Tim Kaine to end this nonsense and vote to pass a clean continuing resolution (CR) to open the federal government,” said Gov. Youngkin.
Virginia’s robust job growth and record business investment have delivered significant budget surpluses that enable the Commonwealth to replace Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits with this parallel system and avoid major interruptions to these essential services, according to a related press release from the governor’s office.
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