Alaska’s Department of Law is asking a judge to throw out much of a class action lawsuit over the state’s failure to process food assistance applications on time. Thousands of Alaskans are caught in backlogs that have plagued the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, and other aid programs for years.
But the state argues a recent Supreme Court case, Medina v. Planned Parenthood of South Carolina, means they shouldn’t be allowed to sue. Rather, the state argues that the federal Food and Nutrition Service, part of the Agriculture Department overseeing SNAP, should be the only entity able to enforce federal requirements.
"The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Medina makes clear that the plaintiffs have no private causes of action. This litigation must now end," state attorneys wrote in a motion for summary judgment submitted Tuesday.
Attorney Saima Akhtar of the National Center for Law and Economic Justice, part of the legal team suing the state on behalf of Alaskans caught in the backlog, said in an interview that lawsuits like the SNAP case are an important way for citizens to hold their government accountable.
"Unfortunately, for better or for worse, a lot of times, agencies function better when there is oversight and when they are being held to standards and to account for what they are doing," she said.
In June, the Supreme Court ruled that a South Carolina Planned Parenthood chapter could not sue the state over violations of the federal law that governs the Medicaid program. The justices ruled 6-3 that only the federal government could enforce that law.
Alaska Department of Law attorneys argue in a filing Tuesday that the decision means hungry Alaskans shouldn’t be allowed to enforce deadlines set out in the law that created SNAP.
Late last year, U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason granted a preliminary injunction, requiring the Division of Public Assistance to report monthly on its progress towards ending the backlog.
The state argues the ongoing court battle takes time and resources away from the Department of Health’s efforts to end the backlog — especially because the department continues to struggle with understaffing.
“This is not a situation where a state has moved to dismiss while refusing to take any meaningful remedial action,” state attorneys wrote. “However, the litigation continues to divert DOH’s limited resources.”
That’s no excuse, Akhtar said. She said the state’s continued failure to clear the backlog means oversight is necessary.
"I don't think anyone is asserting that the time spent on the reports would magically allow them to clear the multi-thousand-case backlog they have," she said. "That is not the problem."
Department officials report they are making progress on the SNAP backlog, which stood at roughly 3,000 in August, down from roughly 4,500 in June.
