The costs of Pennsylvania’s federal food assistance program are 73% higher per person than three years ago before the pandemic.

In 2018-19, the cost per person on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, previously referred to as food stamps, was $128.70. That has increased to $222.09 per person through September 2022.

When adjusted for inflation, the 2018-19 cost increases to $148.77 per person and the cost per person is 49% higher in September 2022. As many as 1.86 million people in Pennsylvania received SNAP benefits in 2021-22. The highest participation in 2018-19 was 1.79 million.

From June 2021 to June 2022, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers increased 9.1 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“The 9.1-percent increase in the all items index was the largest 12-month increase since the 12-month period ending November 1981,” the government website stated.

The federal government increased the benefits to SNAP during the pandemic when many people lost their jobs.

In Pennsylvania, a family of four making as much as $55,512 qualifies for SNAP benefits.

The cost to fund SNAP has almost doubled in three years going from $2.5 billion to a projected $4.9 billion in 2021-22. The state has spent $4.1 billion thus far in 2021-22 with two months left in the fiscal year. Those figures are not adjusted for inflation.

Government spent $5.2 billion on SNAP benefits in Pennsylvania in 2020-21.

In October, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services announced that it was expanding the SNAP program to add more than 420,000 more state residents to it who will receive on average $63 a month.

“For years, we’ve gotten calls on a daily basis from folks who are hoping to qualify for SNAP but don’t,” said Ann Sanders, public policy advocate for Just Harvest, a nonprofit organization that works to reduce hunger, in a state news release. “They include parents who are trying to feed their kids, people who are struggling between skyrocketing rents and rising food prices. Often they’re just a few dollars over the limit, so we’re thrilled that the Wolf administration found a way to allow more of these households qualify for some help.”

SNAP is a federal program and the benefits are paid by the federal budget. The cost of administering the program is split between the state and federal government.