BATON ROUGE — On Wednesday, Gov. Jeff Landry addressed the ongoing government shutdown, including the possibility that thousands of Louisiana residents will go without Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program benefits if it is not ended by Saturday.

Landry said that disabled people, children and the elderly will all get SNAP benefits for the upcoming month. He said that both sides of the aisle came together to make the decision to feed "the most vulnerable" Louisianians.

Out of 800,000 Louisianians who depend on the government assistance, he said only 50,000 able-bodied adults who are on the program will not receive SNAP dollars. 

Landry said cutting spending to other programs over the last 20 months has put the state government in a position to help in a time of crisis. 

"This declaration has allowed us to tap into state funds to continue to provide food assistance for the elderly, the disabled and children, while the federal funding is paused," he said. 

The governor said guidance will be released by the state government, but cardholders in one of the three categories will not have to do anything to receive their benefits.

During the public comment section, Landry fielded questions about the scolding of Loyola over decisions to disallow Turning Point on campus and his role in the recent firing of LSU's head football coach. 

"Tulane and Loyola are examples of what is wrong with this country, not what is right with it," Landry said. 

The governor also said that LSU Athletics Director Scott Woodward would not be picking a head coach for the upcoming season.