(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he’s starting to see encouraging signs that a resolution may be near to end the federal government shutdown, now in its 35th day. Grassley says he meets every Monday with a half-dozen or so other top Senate Republican leaders, while this past Monday, things were different.  “And it was the first Monday that we’ve had some good news,” Grassley says, “that there seems to be the proper negotiations going on, but it includes things other than just opening up government.” Another member of Iowa’s delegation in Washington hints that government could be reopened by Thursday, but Grassley wouldn’t offer a timeline. He notes the month-long shutdown is having a significant impact at home.

“Iowans are suffering painful consequences,” Grassley says. “I’m getting calls into my my office, ‘Where can we get food? is the question.” Grassley says 131-thousand Iowa families rely on the federal government for food assistance, which he says translates to about 400-thousand people. Those SNAP benefits ran out this past Saturday. “Yesterday I had the report of one mother in Marion bursting into tears at the cash register when she realized she wouldn’t be able to afford groceries for her family,” Grassley says, “because there just wasn’t any money on that card.” Even if there’s no agreement to reopen the government, Grassley says lawmakers are working to shift funding from an emergency account that would pump some money into the U-S-D-A for SNAP.

“Well, it’d probably have to be a partial allotment to each person that qualifies,” Grassley says, “because if there’s $5 billion available, it takes $9 billion a month to give an average of about $500 to each food stamp recipient.” Since the weekend, Iowa food pantries are seeing a significant boost in demand.