BOSTON — Massachusetts leaders are pushing back against the suspension of SNAP benefits, aid that helps hundreds of thousands and low-income families put food on the table.
On the steps of the Massachusetts state house, food banks and anti-hunger advocates gathered behind the state’s top law enforcement officer, Attorney General Andrea Campbell, who is leading a coalition of 21 other attorneys general and three governors in filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration for “unlawfully suspending SNAP.” They’re demanding the federal government release food assistance funds and warn that time is running out.
Many expressed frustration and fear over what could become a hunger crisis for more than 650,000 families statewide, including Iris Ivette Montufar who spoke through tears at Tuesday’s rally.
“I depend on it and I’m just very worried about what I’m going to do for my kids,” Ivette Montufar said.
The attorney general’s legal action against the Trump administration comes after federal officials moved to suspend SNAP benefits during the government shutdown.
“There has always been a reserve fund, in this case there is $6 billion of a SNAP reserve fund available to fund SNAP and they are refusing to use that reserve,” Attorney General Campbell explained. “We’re filing this lawsuit to ensure our families get the food they deserve and the resources they so desperately need.”
Advocates with Project Bread said this move by the Trump administration has never happened before, and the fallout could be devastating.
“For every dollar invested in SNAP, yields a dollar fifty in economic activity so this is going to be felt by everyone,” Project Bread president, Erin McAleer said.
If the benefits don’t go out, the state’s food banks could be flooded with up to 56 million extra meal requests, which they say they can’t handle. That’s why supporters are calling on the state to use its $8 billion Rainy Day Fund to cover SNAP payments if the federal government doesn’t act. However, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey says there is no way the state can back-fill this money.
“There is no need for this to happen. There are billions of dollars sitting right now in a contingency fund that the president can use to continue to fund SNAP which is what every other president has done during a federal shutdown,” Gov. Healey said.
A spokesperson for the US Department of Agriculture wrote “We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats. Continue to hold out for the Far-Left wing of the party or reopen the government so mothers, babies, and the most vulnerable among us can receive timely WIC and SNAP allotments.”
If an agreement on the federal funding bill is not made soon, the federal government said they will not be paying out SNAP benefits for the month of November, starting Saturday.
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