January 28 Coalition meeting information
Our first SNAP Coalition meeting of 2025 will be on Tuesday, January 28 from 10-11:30. Zoom link here. Congressman Jim McGovern is planning to join us at the start of the meeting, so please tune in right at 10!
We will have a full agenda, including:
- Federal updates, including hearing from Congressman McGovern
- State legislative updates, including the state budget (Governor is scheduled to release her budget proposal for FY26 next week), priority bills filed, etc.
- DTA updates/discussion, including access to DTA, the lock/unlock EBT card option, the SSA COLA (see below), and more.
Contact Gov. Healey & Legislature - State Funds to Replace Stolen SNAP
Because Congress failed to extend federal replacement for stolen SNAP benefits, DTA cannot replace SNAP stolen after December 20, 2024 with federal dollars. Impacted households can fill out this MLRI form to share their stories with us.
Victims of SNAP theft skip meals, incur debt, use rent funds, or miss bill payments to buy food. It is critical the Governor and the Legislature provide funds to replace stolen SNAP. Please contact the Governor and your legislators as soon as possible, urging them to provide $5 million in a FY25 supplemental budget to replace stolen SNAP. Here is a one page overview from MLRI you can share or use in your advocacy. Let Vicky know if you have questions!
- Call or email the Governor. Call (888) 870-7770 or email using this Mass.gov form.
- Call or email your legislators. To find your state Senator and Representative and contact them, search by your address on the Secretary of Massachusetts website here.
Suggested text if you talk to a Legislator or aide, leave a voicemail, or send an email:
Victims of SNAP theft are facing hunger and financial harm when their food benefits are stolen through no fault of their own. [if you know of an impacted family, mention that & their experience as well]. Where the federal government is failing to make victims whole, Massachusetts should step up to provide state funds to cover replacement. Please include $5 million in a FY25 supplemental budget to replace stolen SNAP.
MA Retailer and Anti-Hunger Orgs urge MA Delegation to Protect/Defend SNAP
In addition to the letter that 181 MA orgs sent in December, this morning the four food banks, Project Bread, Mass Food Systems and our two major retailer associations in MA sent an additional letter to the MA Delegation urging them to stand strong against any cuts to SNAP. Feel free to share this with local retailers and farmers. We hope to get additional communications to our Delegation from healthcare providers, faith-based communities, chambers of commerce, mayors and other key stakeholders - communications that hopefully can get replicated in sister states. This is truly an “all hands on deck” exercise to protect critical federal programs.
And earlier today, our colleagues at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities issued a detailed report on Republican proposals to cut SNAP benefits. This resource is useful when explaining to elected officials the threats ahead.
Social Security COLA and SNAP updates
DTA automatically updates SNAP benefits when Social Security benefits increase each year with the federal Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA). Sometimes the increase in Social Security results in a small decrease in SNAP benefits. Remember that people 60+ or getting a disability benefit may qualify for higher SNAP if they claim medical costs. See MLRI benchmarks chart showing who may benefit from claiming medical costs, and more resources on the medical expense deduction here.
A copy of DTA’s notice is posted in the Online Guide here. Thank you to DTA for including information about the Medicare Savings Plan (MSP) - kudos to Mass Senior Action who has done incredible advocacy to expand MSP and connect eligible older adults to MSP! MSP can save older adults more than $3,000 a year. Visit Mass.gov/MedicareSavings to learn more and apply.
