Org Sign-on Letter to MA Delegation, HIP alert, DTA Admin Funding and MORE!

12/04/24

Thank you to all who were able to attend today’s Coalition meeting and special thanks to Caitlin Hodgkins from Congressman Jim McGovern’s office for giving us the lay of the land and strategies for defending and protecting federal nutrition programs in the months ahead. 

 

We have a few follow up items: 

 

Sign-on letter from MA organizations to MA Congressional Delegation - Deadline Monday, Dec. 9th

Please join MLRI, Project Bread and dozens of MA anti-hunger organizations to: 1) thank our Delegation for their long standing efforts to protect federal nutrition programs, 2) urge them to stand strong against any cuts to SNAP, WIC, school meals, emergency food or other programs and 3) act quickly to provide additional funding to replace stolen SNAP benefits. It is critical to remind them how important these programs are and urging them to keep fighting to protect the nation’s safety net benefits. 

 

Please check out the organizational letter and sign on HERE - deadline 5 PM Monday, December 9th. As you get this email, nearly 70 orgs have signed on so far!

 

Help Secure Funds for the Healthy Incentives Program (HIP):

As many of you know, HIP benefits were cut effective Sunday (Dec 1st) because of a $10M shortfall in the current (FY25) state budget. HIP benefits are now capped at $20/month for all SNAP households. (See DTA’s December update attached)

 

The battle is NOT over! The Mass Food Systems Caucus (MFSC) is leading an “all hands on deck” to reach out to Speaker Mariano and House Ways and Means Chair Michlewitz and share the impact of the HIP cut on local households, local farms and farmers markets. Please use this template for this outreach and check out MFSC’s call to action document here. To get more involved, contact Becca Miller at: rebecca@mafoodsystem.org 

 

MLRI letter to Healey Admin Seeking Funding for IT and DTA caseworkers:

As discussed at today’s Coalition meeting, access issues are the #1 problem facing SNAP and cash clients right now. Core issues include significant challenges reaching DTA by phone, DTA delays in processing submitted documents, and issues connecting with DTA for the SNAP application interview. Access challenges have led to a major increase in in-office visits, and a concerning reduction in the SNAP caseload.  Remember, SNAP is 100% federally funded. .

 

Here’s a link to MLRI’s 11/26 letter sent to the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) before Thanksgiving. We strongly encourage community orgs working on state FY26 (fiscal year 2026) budget campaigns to also support increased DTA admin and IT funding. 

 

DTA’s December Newsletter:

Attached you’ll find DTA’s December newsletter, sent this AM to the DTA Advisory Boards. We wanted to flag these four items in particular: 

 

  • DTA’s HIP cut update effective December 1st, more info HERE.

  • New “lock/unlock” EBT card feature to protect benefits, more info HERE.

  • Expanded utility discount program for DTA and MassHealth clients (see Governor Healey’s 10/16 press release HERE)

  • DTA data on high call volumes. To see monthly call data, see DTA’s performance scorecards posted here.  

 

Upcoming Special Coalition Meetings:

MLRI will be hosting two meetings in the next few weeks before the end of December holiday week, including:

 

  • DTA access issues including phone interviews

  • Protecting immigrant client information and “know your rights” materials

 

Once we have the meeting times pinned down, we’ll send on the Zoom link and related information.  The next regular Coalition meeting will be Tuesday, January 23rd. 

 

FCC warning on fraudulent website about the Affordable Connectivity Program.

The Federal Communications Commission recently issued an announcement warning consumers about fraudulent websites about the now ended Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). ACP was a benefit for low-income families to pay for internet costs - but ACP has ended. Any websites or materials that  claim to provide ACP or ask for information for ACP enrollment should be reported to the FCC. 


Pat and Vicky