The Utah Department of Workforce Services, which administers the benefit, said on Thursday that the benefit, widely known as SNAP, will be issued within 24 hours. The announcement came hours after federal elected officials signed a spending package, funding most government operations through January.

SNAP users in Utah typically receive payments every month’s 5th, 11th or 15th, depending on their last name, Becky Wickstrom, public information officer at the Department of Workforce Services, said.

“No benefits have gone out yet, but those who would have received them on the 5th and 11th will start seeing those tomorrow,” Wickstrom said. “And then, if customers would normally receive them on the 15th, then they will come as scheduled.”

October payments were already allocated during the government shutdown, but chaos emerged in November, with contradicting instructions from different courts and federal agencies.

Some states had issued court-ordered full payments, but Utah didn’t release any SNAP funds during November. The latest action in the turmoil was an instruction from President Donald Trump to reverse a portion of the payments after an emergency Supreme Court ruling allowing the administration to make partial SNAP payments.

The Department of Workforce Services had been following federal guidance throughout the process, Wickstrom said.

“Our latest guidance before the government reopened, was that emergency federal funding would be used to issue a 65% amount of everyone’s SNAP benefits. And so we were in the process of making that happen, that requires us to shift things around in our system,” she said. “We were on track to have that also in place by the 15th but with the government reopened, we’re really happy to announce that we can issue that full benefit as normal.”

About 87,000 Utah families rely on the benefit, which is completely funded by the federal government. State leaders remained firm in their decision not to step in and cover the payments during the shutdown, but committing up to $4 million to help support the Utah Food Bank.

Utah Senate Democrats pleaded to convene in a special session to use rainy day funds to fund SNAP, with Senate Minority Leader Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, saying that “Utah has the means to step in and ensure no one goes hungry while we wait for federal action.”

But, Gov. Spencer Cox and legislative leaders maintained their stance, arguing that “using state funds to compensate for federal inaction would rapidly drain reserves and undermine Utah’s long-term fiscal stability.”

A warning on scams

With all benefits dropping into people’s accounts again, Wickstrom also warned Utah customers about recent benefits thefts involving SNAP’s Electronic Benefit Transfer cards.

“It seems like thieves are getting more sophisticated and advanced in the way that they can steal EBT card information,” Wickstrom said. “Unfortunately, when they get the card number and they’re able to get into someone’s account, once that money is spent, it is gone.”

The Department of Workforce Services advises users to lock their EBT cards through the ConnectEBT app when they aren’t in use.

“We want customers to get the ConnectEBT mobile app, then lock their card whenever they’re not making a purchase,” Wickstrom said. “They can even do this in real time. So, in line at the grocery store, unlock your card, make a purchase, lock it again, and hopefully that helps them keep track of their benefits and keep the money that they need to feed their families.”