Gov. Maura Healey restated Thursday her refusal to tap Massachusetts’ multi-billion-dollar rainy day account to shore up federal food benefits amid the government shutdown. Instead, she announced $4 million from another state fund, doubling the state’s regular November payment to food banks.
More than 1 million Massachusetts residents are likely to experience challenges buying groceries and putting food on the table starting Saturday because of the shutdown and President Trump’s decision to let the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, run out of cash.
Healey said her administration will advance $4 million in “previously planned payments” from the Massachusetts Emergency Food Assistance Program to food banks, bringing the monthly allotment for November to $8 million.
Other New England states have come up with more money to assist with lost food benefits, by turning to state dollars or separate federal funds.
Vermont Gov. Phil Scott signed off Wednesday on a $6.3 million proposal to temporarily provide food benefits for 15 days if federal funds dry up. Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee declared a state of emergency over the loss of SNAP and said he would use $6 million in other federal dollars to fund food benefits.
Healey said — as legislative leaders did earlier this week — that Beacon Hill Democrats do not plan to dip into the state’s $8.6 billion reserve account to maintain SNAP benefits.
“There’s a reason for that,” she said. “This is all happening in the context of Donald Trump having already cut a trillion dollars from our health care system, OK? A trillion dollars has been taken out of our health care system to pay for very rich people to have even more generous tax cuts.”
Healey pointed to other federal programs at risk of expiring if the government shutdown continues — Head Start, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, and the Women, Infants, and Children Nutrition Program, or WIC.
She and state lawmakers say tapping the state’s reserve fund for SNAP would open the door to other programs expecting similar help.
Healey called on Trump to use a roughly $5 billion federal contingency fund to keep SNAP flowing.
“ We’re going to continue to look for ways that we can help as we call on the president to release these funds,” Healey said.
Healey’s announcement came as members of Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office were in a Boston federal courtroom asking a judge to force the Trump administration to fund the SNAP program.
Asked why she would not tap more funds for assistance, Healey said it’s because the state won’t be reimbursed by the federal government for extra spending on SNAP.
