CT to send former SNAP recipients $300 grocery cards to avoid 'a crisis'
Around 25,000 people who no longer qualify for federal SNAP food assistance will receive $300 grocery benefits from the state in August. But food banks said it won't be enough to make up for surging demand.
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Around 25,000 people who no longer qualify for SNAP food benefits are getting a lifeline from the state of Connecticut.
But it’s only temporary.
They will receive $300 grocery cards to avoid “a crisis” while state lawmakers consider more permanent solutions.
NEW SNAP RULES
New eligibility rules for the federal SNAP program began on Dec. 1.
Most adults ages 18 to 64 must now document 80 hours a month working, taking job training classes or volunteering. Last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill removed exemptions for parents with kids 14 and older, people without a home, able-bodied veterans and non-citizen “green card” holders.
Since then, demand has risen 5-20% at the Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County in Stamford.
“We’re immensely busy,” executive director Duncan Lawson said. “People seem to think we don’t have people in need in these areas from Greenwich through to sort of the Westport-Wiltons of the world. Unfortunately, that is not true.”
“THERE WAS GOING TO BE A CRISIS”
Gov. Ned Lamont faced growing pressure to act.
The new eligibility rules have already led to a 10% reduction in SNAP enrollment this year – a much faster drop that state officials anticipated.
“There was going to be a crisis that was going to be happening this summer,” Department of Social Services commissioner Andrea Barton Reeves told reporters. “That really precipitated the very quick move to make this happen.”
But it’s only one-time relief.
DSS plans to load the $300 onto a phone app, where recipients can only use it on allowable purchases. The funds cannot be transferred to anyone else.
"People will be able to shop with the dignity that they deserve,” said Barton Reeves. “They will be able to go to a grocer of their choice.”
The $8.5 million cost comes out of a $500 million emergency fund to offset cuts from Washington. Legislative leaders from both parties can reject the spending.
“It will help families,” said Jason Jakubowski, CEO of Connecticut Foodshare. “It will help children. It will help seniors.”
“SNAP IS A BROKEN PROGRAM”
The new work requirements are part of a series of SNAP changes that President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans pushed through last summer.
“SNAP is a broken program. SNAP is full of corruption,” Trump’s agriculture secretary, Brooke Rollins, told CNN in November. “We found 186,000 dead people.”
Barton Reeves countered that many people are unable to meet SNAP’s work requirements in high unemployment areas that were previously exempt.
“If you’re able-bodied, you can work,” she said. “But if you only have one major employer within a 25- or 30-mile radius, they’re not going to employ every single person.”
Last April, the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service found that “SNAP fraud is rare” and most issues are due to unintentional mistakes.
TOUGHER ROAD AHEAD
Connecticut leaders face even tougher decisions going forward.
States will have to pay a 25% larger share for the SNAP program this year. That could cost Connecticut $252 million, according to No Kid Hungry. And next year, states face penalties for payment error rates above 6%.
Connecticut had a 10.25% error rate in FY2024, according to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.
Lamont, who is up for reelection, said he would consider a state-level food program in the 2027 legislative session. But that could be an expensive recurring cost – something the fiscally conservative governor has tried to avoid.
“Let’s, first of all, see what the numbers are and see how many people we can get back onto the SNAP program, which is paid for by the federal government,” he said on Wednesday.
Back at the Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County, Lawson said pantries cannot make up for SNAP benefits.
“What they give away is a supplement to SNAP. It cannot cover everything for most families,” he said. “I think that the state could do a little better. That would be my personal opinion.”
DO YOU STILL QUALIFY?
Click HERE to see if new SNAP work requirements apply to you.
If you need help, call 2-1-1 or click HERE to learn about food assistance programs in Connecticut.
