Ahead of public food benefits running out for over a million Bay Staters on Saturday, Gov. Maura Healey announced Thursday that the state will advance a scheduled $4 million payment for food pantries – but is not tapping into the state’s reserves, despite calls from advocates to do so.
Almost every other state in the region has announced they’ll use state funds to cover Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for residents as the federal funds dry up amidst the ongoing federal government shutdown. President Donald trump can also keep dollars flowing to the program by tapping into contingency funds, but has said he won’t, drawing ire from Democrats and other critics nationwide.
Healey said her governance will advance a monthly $4 million payment to food pantries, for the month of November, to help alleviate the extra pressures. Marty Martinez with United Way also announced Thursday that the relief fund Healey set up with United Way last week seeking private donations has topped $1 million.
“As a state we’re going to advance $4 million to our food banks, which support over 800 community organizations around the state. This is from our existing program, which is the Massachusetts Emergency Food Assistance Program that already provides $4 million to our community partners every month. So given the expected spike in demand, we are going to be doubling that,” Healey said during a State House press conference.
Massachusetts receives about $240 million monthly for SNAP benefits,and Healey and top lawmakers have consistently said over the past week that the state cannot backfill the amount that usually comes from the federal government.
Massachusetts households that get SNAP benefits receive an average $323 per month. So far in 2025, SNAP benefits have gone to an average of 1.1 million people in massachusetts each month, including 665,000 families, 342,000 children and 261,500 elderly people, according to Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s lawsuit – Healey said Campbell is in court Thursday trying to force the federal release of SNAP benefits.
Among the Bay State’s neighbors that have tapped reserve funds to cover the gap: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced $30 million in state funds would cover 16 million meals for New Yorkers; Vermont is fully covering SNAP benefits for the first 15 days of November for all 65,000 recipients in their state with $6.3 million in state emergency funds; Connecticut is dedicating $3 million to stretch across the first two weeks of the month; in Rhode Island, Gov. Daniel McKee declared a state of emergency and is using up to $6 million in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families dollars to help offset SNAP costs; and in Maine, Gov. Janet Mills announced Tuesday that she’d tap $1.2 million from the state’s contingency account.
Anti-hunger advocacy organizations have called for Healey and lawmakers to draw from the state’s $8 billion rainy day fund.
“As we are here this morning,right now,the USDA is sitting on $23 billion in a contingency fund that could be used to pay these benefits out across the country. in fact, that’s what other presidents have done during a shutdown, but this President has made a decision to not provide those funds,” Healey said.
The Trump administration has said tapping into that contingency fund would be illegal and has blamed Democrats for the shutdown, pointing to continued failures to pass a continuing resolution vote in support of federal funding in the Senate where Republicans lack the votes to pass the measure without Democrat support.
The House passed a short-term continuing resolution on Sept. 19 to keep federal agencies funded. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has kept the House out of legislative session ever as, saying the solution is for Democrats to simply accept that bill.
But the Senate has consistently fallen short of the 60 votes needed to advance that spending measure. Democrats insist that any bill to fund the government also address health care costs, namely the soaring health insurance premiums that millions of americans will face next year under plans offered through the Affordable Care Act marketplace.
senate Majority Leader John Thune’s 13th attempt to advance the House-passed measure failed most recently on Tuesday.
– Developing
Published: 2025/10/31 00:16:58