Yup, there is a limited budget and if things get bad enough in a state they will even limit them to only people who have disabilities. It's rare but has happened.
Then there is the craziness that you are immediately ineligible for foodstamps the very day you get a job, regardless if you do not get a paycheck for a couple more weeks.
You get so much per month - based on your income and fixed expenses. In my state, income must be below $1500/mo period, and then there is a secret formula that says f(income, expenses) = food stamp amount. Every six months they ask if your situation has changed.
The money has to come from somewhere. Food stamps purchase real goods, and the government pays the stores for them. So, like the money they are a mostly direct proxy for, they are limited in number.
