Food assistance for around 391,000 Connecticut residents will run out on Nov. 1 if the government shutdown continues, and whether the state will fill the gaps is “an ongoing conversation,” a state official said.
“Our doors are open,” said Peter Hadler, deputy commissioner at the state Department of Social Services, which manages SNAP in Connecticut. “We’re talking to everyone who’s concerned about this.”
Hadler spoke at a press conference at The Grocery on Broad Street in Hartford with U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal and others.
Gov. Ned Lamont and the Connecticut legislature have the ability to temporarily fund SNAP from state funds. The legislative leaders are planning a special session mid-November to put last fiscal year’s state budget surplus towards offsetting cuts to various assistance programs.
It costs $72 million monthly to fund SNAP in Connecticut.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps, is a federal program. Blumenthal and nutrition program leaders urged an end to the shutdown.
During the last government shutdown, almost seven years ago, the USDA paid some benefits early to bridge a gap. This time around, the USDA told states that funds will be depleted come November.
Blumenthal said he has talked with Lamont and believes “he cares deeply about this issue.”
Jason Jakubowski, president and CEO of Connecticut Foodshare, which runs the state’s food banks, said his colleagues in other states are “jealous” of how the Connecticut government has been working with Connecticut Foodshare to address the possible funding gap. If SNAP funding runs out, many recipients will head to food banks, which Jakubowski said will not be able to serve everyone.
“We are here in a state in which the state government is actually interested in figuring out, how do we help people? That’s not a conversation that’s happening in every state,” Jakubowski said.
Two weeks ago, Lamont announced the state would cover the funding lapse of a different food program, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, known as WIC. The program provides food for young children and nursing or pregnant women. But WIC is smaller and cheaper than SNAP: it costs about $6 million each month in Connecticut and serves around 52,000 people in the state.
The shutdown began when Democrats refused to support the GOP funding bill because it lets Affordable Care Act healthcare subsidies expire. Now, the two parties are fighting a messaging battle to convince Americans the other is responsible for the shutdown.
“If it isn’t addressed today, people won’t know whether they can afford health insurance, and they won’t buy it,” Blumenthal said. “So our leverage here is that we will insist that the health care tax credit be extended.”
He added that he sees the fight as about human rights, not politics.
When pressed about what might jump-start progress in Washington, Blumenthal said he saw “energy and momentum” at anti-Trump No Kings protests over the weekend.
He said he is having bipartisan conversations in Washington but his Republican colleagues don’t want those conversations to be publicly known for fear of angering the White House. He blamed House Republicans and speaker Mike Johnson for being “out of town and out of touch” and continuing the shutdown.
Democrats across the country have argued that the shutdown is about fighting for health care, and that Republicans are at fault because they control Congress and the White House. Blumenthal was on-message on Monday.
“The White House and both houses of Congress are under their control. There are limits to what we can do,” he said.
He added it was “myth and misinformation” that undocumented immigrants receive SNAP benefits, a point some Republican lawmakers have used against the program.
