In the lead-up to two federal judges ruling Friday that the Trump administration must continue to fund SNAP food benefit payments, city leaders around Connecticut spent the week preparing for a possible Saturday shutoff of the benefits amid the ongoing federal government shutdown.
In New Haven, Mayor Justin Elicker on Friday announced a partnership with the United Way of Greater New Haven meant to connect residents with food resources and information on how best to help neighbors in need.
“Unfortunately, because of the cruel policies that our federal government is rolling out, we as a city have to come together,” Elicker said at a press conference.
“In my years of being involved in the community, the prospect of cutting off SNAP benefits is one of the most inhumane, callous, cruel and immoral acts I've ever witnessed,” Elicker said. “New Haven is a city and a community that cares for our most vulnerable residents, and we are doing everything we can to respond.”
In Hartford, Mayor Arunan Arulampalam announced Thursday a series of public awareness campaigns to connect the hungry with food resources and those wishing to help with ways to donate.
“There are folks who are going to need help and there are folks who want to help,” Arulampalam said. “Frankly, everybody in our community should fit into one of those two buckets. If you need help, you should not be ashamed, this is not your fault, and we want to do everything we can to support you. And all of us should try to help in whatever small way we can.”
Arulampalam said Hartford officials would be collecting donations of non-perishable food in bins at City Hall. The city is also displaying QR codes with links to food resources and ways to donate to Connecticut Foodshare. Hartford residents are also encouraged to text ‘211FOOD’ to 898-211 in order to be connected with resources near them.
In Bridgeport, the city health department has posted online a list of ways to connect with food resources and to give support.
More than 360,000 Connecticut residents receive payments through SNAP. Roughly a third of those are children.
Democrats have charged that the Trump administration has been illegally withholding a multibillion-dollar contingency fund meant to keep SNAP payments going out during emergencies. The state of Connecticut and city of New Haven are plaintiffs in separate lawsuits demanding those funds be released. The Trump administration has claimed it can not release the funding.
In response to the potential SNAP interruption, which the president and CEO of Connecticut Foodshare calls a coming “catastrophe,” Democratic Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont has released $3 million meant to support local food pantries.
Connecticut Foodshare is urging those in need of help to visit their local food pantry. Individuals can text FOODSHARE to 85511 to find the pantry nearest them. CT Foodshare stresses their locations in Wallingford and Bridgeport do not distribute food directly to individuals and people should not visit either site looking for food.
Reaction to the judges' ruling
Officials across Connecticut issued statements Friday afternoon in response to two federal judges ordering the Trump administration to pay SNAP food benefits during the government shutdown:
Gov. Ned Lamont said residents should have never been cut off from SNAP benefits.
"While this ruling may offer last-minute relief for the many who rely on SNAP, I urge the federal government to honor it now and for Secretary Rollins to use not only the department’s contingency fund but also her transfer authority to increase benefits," Lamont said. "Connecticut Department of Social Services is prepared to issue November benefits as soon as USDA authorizes payment. In the meantime, we will continue to work closely with our community food networks."
Attorney General William Tong: “This decision leaves no room for doubt — USDA can and must release the contingency funds and stop weaponizing hunger for political advantage. Donald Trump now has a stark legal and moral choice before him— he can keep fighting this losing battle, he can insist on starving American families for political leverage, or he can release the funds now."
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal: “While I welcome this court order, it’s only a temporary stop gap — a band aid on a deeper, gaping wound. Millions of Americans are struggling to put food on the table — a harsh reality that President Trump has abjectly failed to recognize, and Republicans have made worse by refusing to work with Democrats on reopening the government and providing access to health care."
Republican State Sen. Stephen Harding, Connecticut's Senate Minority Leader: “We now have an issue of two competing federal court orders. We will have to see the administration’s response. Bottom line: Vulnerable Connecticut residents need to eat. Bottom line: Democrats need to join Republicans in voting to reopen the government and resolve this crisis."
New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker: “No child or family in our city, state or country should go to bed hungry. The federal court’s decision affirms what every New Havener and American of good conscience knows to be true: the Trump Administration’s attempt to withhold SNAP benefits and food assistance from our most vulnerable residents is as illegal as it is immoral."
