The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will send its final payments for February to low-income residents in Maryland on Friday.
Around 772,700 people in Maryland, or 13% of the state population, receive food stamps. The average payment per household member in the Old Line State per month is $180.
Food stamps are distributed in the state from Feb. 4 to Feb. 23, with a recipient’s specific date depending on the first three letters of a household’s last name.
Those with last names beginning with AAA through WES should have collected SNAP benefits by Thursday. Recipients with last names WET through ZZZ will collect on Friday. A full list of each last name and its corresponding date can be found here.
A household of one can receive a maximum of $291, a household of five can receive a maximum of $1,155, and a household of eight can receive a maximum of $1,751. A household can receive a maximum of $219 for each additional person after eight. These amounts are based on the recent cost-of-living adjustments for 2023-24.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
To qualify for Maryland SNAP benefits, the gross income limit is 200% of the federal poverty level. For a household of one, the maximum annual income is $18,954, and the maximum annual income for a household of five is $45,682.
Maryland SNAP benefits are issued onto an Independence Card, the state’s name for an electronic benefits transfer card. The date when beneficiaries receive their payments depends on the first three letters of their last name. SNAP benefits can be used to buy grocery items such as meat and poultry products, bread and cereal, and seeds for growing food. The benefits cannot be used to purchase alcohol, cleaning supplies, or pet food.
