With thousands of Connecticut households losing food assistance as grocery-related inflation hit a three-year high, Gov. Ned Lamont’s critics recently urged him to intensify a modest response to a hunger crisis.

But the governor, a fiscal moderate who’s been wary about using state dollars to bolster shrinking federal human service programs, maintained a noncommittal stance he’s held since February.

“He’s a good friend, but I’m really frustrated,” Sen. Matt Lesser, D-Middletown, said of changing federal rules that have pushed tens of thousands of Connecticut residents off the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. “People are really hurting right now.”

Lesser, who co-chairs the General Assembly’s Human Services Committee, added that “I don’t think this is going to get any better” at the federal level.

The Middletown lawmaker was referring to SNAP enrollment numbers which, according to the Connecticut Department of Social Services, stood at 308,628 recipients, down almost 35,600 or 10% since Nov. 1, when new federal eligibility and other rule changes took effect.

Nearly half of that erosion occurred between March and April alone.

Many factors could have shaped those changes, as households routinely come off and onto the SNAP rolls each month.

But anti-hunger advocates estimate federal rule changes adopted last July by Congress and President Donald Trump have pushed 30,000 or more Connecticut recipients off the benefit program already. Veterans, unhoused individuals, young adults transitioning from foster care and parents of minor children age 14 and older no longer are exempt from work requirements, even though many struggle with mental illness. Federal officials also cut SNAP benefits for certain categories of legal immigrants.

Lesser and other of Lamont’s fellow Democrats in the General Assembly’s majority have recommended tapping state finances, which have achieved unprecedented surpluses for nearly a decade, to help these households buy groceries.

Elliott: When Lamont says ‘We’ll see’ he means ‘No’

“We’re looking into that,” Lamont told the Connecticut Mirror last Thursday, adding his goal is “to make sure that nobody gets left behind.”

But the governor said something similar on May 6.

“Let me take a look if we’re not getting the job done” with the measures that already have been taken, he said.

And when Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, pledged last December to propose a state-funded food benefit in the 2026 legislative session, the governor said it was unnecessary.

Osten, who co-chairs the Appropriations Committee, estimated Connecticut could replace the benefits for this population for less than $50 million per year — roughly 3% of this year’s projected $1.6 billion surplus. But she watched her proposal get left out of the budget Lamont and lawmakers adopted in early May.

Connecticut has used aggressive budget caps to force average yearly surpluses topping 8% of revenues since Lamont took office in 2019, two-and-a-half times greater than the largest surplus ever achieved in two decades prior.

But Lamont has used these caps primarily to chop $11 billion off Connecticut’s hefty pension debt. And critics say the governor is asking one generation to solve a problem created by the poor savings habits of three, dating back to 1939. These budget caps, they add, are siphoning huge resources away from health care, town aid, education and human service initiatives such as food assistance.

There’s also another $380 million still sitting in a special fund — created outside of the formal budget — that legislators set up specifically to offset federal cuts to human service programs. But only Lamont can propose tapping those funds to pay benefits to people losing SNAP benefits, and to date he has not.

“It’s all ‘we’ll see,’ and then he just does nothing,” said state Rep. Josh Elliott of Hamden, who will battle Lamont for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in an Aug. 11 primary. “He’s unwilling to ask his wealthy friends to pay their fair share.”

Administration officials note the governor has helped protect a host of health care, education and social service programs jeopardized over the past year by Trump and Congress.

Lamont’s campaign spokesman, Rob Blanchard, said the governor hasn’t stopped working for solutions to the SNAP issue.

“It’s easy for Josh to criticize from the aisles of his luxury organic grocery store, but governing is hard work,” Blanchard said. “When the federal government threatened SNAP and food bank funding, Gov. Lamont stepped up with millions in emergency state grants to help ensure no one went hungry. Now, he’s continuing that work by partnering with [the Department of Social Services] to build on those efforts and protect Connecticut families from federal instability.”

Lamont has drawn about $30 million from Connecticut’s federal cut response fund, but critics say his actions are far too modest.

The governor sent nearly $25 million to food banks and pantries. Another $4.7 million went to the United Way of Connecticut’s 2-1-1 information line and to nonprofit community action agencies, which help SNAP recipients navigate new eligibility rules and find additional forms of aid.

And the administration added 50 new positions to an understaffed social services department, also to help residents with SNAP and other assistance programs.

Food banks and pantries can’t replace SNAP benefits

But anti-hunger forces, including organizations that have received this funding, say the problem is too big for them alone to solve.

“We have said a million times that SNAP is the first defense against hunger in the United States,” Jason Jakubowski, president and CEO of Connecticut Foodshare, said last week.

Jakubowski, whose nonprofit provides food to most pantries across the state, has said Connecticut’s network of food banks and pantries are equipped to cover a fraction of the need when SNAP benefits are removed.

And Lisa Tepper Bates, president and CEO of the United Way of Connecticut, agrees.

The Gemma E. Moran Unites Way/Labor Food Center in New London and pantries it assists in surrounding communities “simply don’t have the bandwidth” to offset the loss of monthly SNAP benefits, which averages about $190 per person in Connecticut, she said.

Many food banks and pantries rely on volunteer help and maintain limited hours. They also provide a limited amount of fresh food, since refrigeration is costly. That means people losing SNAP are being forced to eat a diet of mostly shelf-stable food — often higher in sodium and lower in nutrition, which can be dangerous for people with certain health conditions.

Eastford, a small, rural community in Windham County, operates a food bank in cooperation with a local Baptist church, two days per month for a total of five hours.

Coordinator Audrey Carabeau said residents who cannot visit on those days are welcome to call, and staff will try to arrange a special appointment. “That happens quite a bit” in recent months, she added.

Connecticut’s network of nonprofit community action agencies has intensified its outreach efforts since last fall to help people find options to preserve SNAP benefits, find new work if possible, or secure other assistance, said Rhonda Evans, executive director for the Connecticut Association for Community Action.

And appeals for assistance have “increased steadily since then,” she said, adding that losing a cash benefit like SNAP “has a residual impact.”

Families lacking funds for groceries will make difficult choices, like sacrificing medication or not paying rent, Evans said.

Demand for food assistance surging here and nationally

According to new research, the households making those tough choices is on the rise.

Citing its Survey of Consumer Expectations, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported a “remarkable” rise in food insecurity nationally.

In February, 10% of households reported not having enough food or that children had missed meals, up from 8% in October. Among non-white households, 19% or nearly one in five, faced this problem.

And the Consumer Price Index for groceries was up 2.9% in April compared to the same month in 2025, the largest year-over-year inflation increase in this category since August 2023.

Most groceries are delivered by diesel-powered trucks, and the AAA reported an average diesel price Friday of $5.52 per gallon nationally, up 50% from the $3.68 average on Feb. 28 when the U.S. war with Iran began.

Advocates say supermarket gift cards could be a solution

Meanwhile, had Lamont been open to creating a state-funded nutrition benefit last winter, Osten said, the current crisis wouldn’t be so severe.

The administration hasn’t offered a specific time estimate but has said it would take many months to get such assistance up and running.

“They’ve had an opportunity to work on this,” Osten said, “so I don’t buy that argument.”

Both Lesser and the United Way of Connecticut have offered a compromise. The state could distribute grocery store gift cards through community action agencies or other charitable nonprofits to assist households most in need until the next regular legislative session begins in January.

End Hunger CT, a nonprofit that supports universal free school meals, believes even $95 per person per month would provide real help to those pushed off SNAP benefits, said the group’s policy coordinator, Amari Brantley.

Osten also said many would accept a compromise solution, given that thousands of Connecticut residents have been going hungry for months.

“Nobody’s looking for perfection,” she added. “They’re looking for a first step forward.”