BATON ROUGE — Gov. Jeff Landry on Friday signed an emergency declaration to help fund Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program benefits for the elderly, disabled and children, funds that will be cut off if the ongoing government shutdown continues into November. 

TO FIND FOOD PANTRIES NEAR YOU - CLICK HERE

Landry's executive order, which can be read in full here, says that the state of emergency will be in effect until Nov. 4, three days after SNAP benefits would begin to be withheld unless the government is reopened. 

As of October 2025, nearly 793,000 Louisianians were on SNAP benefits, Landry's order says. 

Landry blamed the continuing shutdown that began on Oct. 1 on Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. Democrats say future federal spending should include funds to prevent major premium increases for insurance policies written under the Affordable Care Act.

"We should not allow our elderly, disabled, or children to go hungry because the Washington, D.C., Democrats fail to reopen the federal government," Landry said in a statement. "Our social security net is supposed to help the most vulnerable, and we will try to accomplish this with today’s action." 

Landry also said that, under his leadership, there have been 70,000 new job opportunities in Louisiana. 

"Wages are on the rise, and our economic outlook has never looked better. This is how we move people from dependence to independence. I urge those who are able-bodied to continue to strive to get off SNAP and similar programs," Landry said. "I encourage our citizens to seek the thousands of new job opportunities across our State, and free themselves from these social programs."