Georgia — “Coming together to enact a federal budget that responsibly funds our government remains among the most basic responsibilities of Congress and requires bipartisan compromise,” said Staci Fox, President and CEO of the Georgia Budget & Policy Institute. “Shutting down the federal government will cause serious harm to people across our state. As other administrations have done in the past, President Trump and executive branch leaders should work to mitigate the harm caused by this shutdown. It is imperative that the administration does not manufacture an even greater crisis by following through on threats to illegally fire federal workers or by disrupting programs that millions of Georgians are counting on to make ends meet. After weeks of anticipating September’s government funding deadline, we have arrived at an unfortunately predictable shutdown that our leaders must immediately negotiate to resolve on the way toward enacting a full budget for the 2026 fiscal year.”
Funding for the federal government expired at midnight on Tuesday, September 30. GBPI is tracking information on affected programs and services in Georgia, which will be updated as further information becomes available:
- Medicaid: Approximately two million Georgians rely on Medicaid for health coverage. CMS is expected to maintain sufficient funding for Medicaid and PeachCare through the first quarter of FY 2026, as provided through the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act of 2025.
- SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program): Benefits are expected to be administered normally for October to the 1.4 million Georgians who receive SNAP. However, benefits issued for November, and subsequent months, could be delayed or interrupted without additional federal funding.
- WIC (USDA’s Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children): In Georgia, 240,000 pregnant and postpartum individuals and children under five receive benefits to help cover healthy food, nutrition information, breastfeeding support and other services. As the Georgia Department of Public Health’s single largest source of federal funds, WIC operations will likely be strained by the fact that the government is shutting down at the start of the federal fiscal year. GBPI will look to state leaders, as well as instructions from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to assess the potential for short-term use of funds that could allow WIC to maintain operations.
