Gov. Josh Shapiro signed an emergency declaration Friday directing his administration to release $5 million to the state’s network of food banks to help them respond to increased need due to cuts in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits beginning Saturday.

In addition, Shapiro said he had solicited $1 million from private sector donors to augment the public funds.

Shapiro made the announcement shortly after a federal judge in Massachusetts ordered the administration of President Donald Trump’s administration to release funding for the SNAP program.

Judge Indira Talwani of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts said the administration’s suspension of benefits “is contrary to law,” noting that the U.S. Department of Agriculture is statutorily required to use previously appropriated SNAP contingency funds when necessary and has discretion to use other available funds.

The judge’s ruling came in a lawsuit filed by Pennsylvania and 24 other states. Shapiro said that despite the judge’s ruling, he is moving forward with the disaster declaration in case Trump ignores the judge’s ruling or appeals it.

Shapiro noted, though, that the millions the state is releasing to help food banks is just a fraction of the amount typically spent to provide SNAP benefits and that the move to freeze the program would be the first time the program has been completely shut down.

The federal government spends about $366 million a month on SNAP benefits for 2 million Pennsylvanians, about 15% of the state population.

About a quarter of the state’s SNAP recipients live in Philadelphia, where 30% of residents receive benefits — making it one of the areas likely to feel the biggest impact from cuts.

But when ranked by the share of residents receiving SNAP benefits, the next five counties most reliant on the program were all carried by Trump in 2024. Cameron County, with a population of only 4,500, is the state’s smallest county. Twenty percent of its residents receive SNAP benefits.

Counties whose residents depend on SNAP the most:

– Philadelphia — 471,961 recipients, 30% of the total population

– Fayette — 29,428 recipients, 23% of the total population

– Luzerne — 69,525 recipients, 21% of the population

– Cameron — 915 recipients, 20% of the population

– Erie — 54,402 recipients, 20% of the population

– Northumberland — 18,410 recipients, 20% of the population

Shapiro’s move comes as food bank officials report being inundated with parents and individuals seeking help, afraid their usual SNAP assistance for groceries will disappear.

“Pantries are seeing scared faces and longer lines. And this is happening at a time when we were already seeing record numbers,” Loree Jones-Brown, CEO of Philabundance, said before introducing the governor.

“Dual-income households are seeking support like never before. Meanwhile, food banks and pantries are left with less resources to meet the need,” Jones-Brown said.

Individuals are eligible for SNAP benefits if their annual income is less than $30,120. That means a worker earning under $14.48 an hour full-time would be eligible for SNAP benefits.

A family of five qualifies for SNAP if their income is $73,176 or less. Two working adults with three kids qualify if they earn an average of $17.59 or less.