State Rolls Out $8.5M Food-Aid Program

by Thomas Breen

Connecticut residents who have been kicked off of food stamps since last December thanks to new federal work requirements can now apply for a one-time $300 state benefit to help them pay for groceries.

Gov. Ned Lamont, state Department of Social Services (DSS) Commissioner Andrea Barton Reeves, and Middletown State Sen. Matt Lesser, among others, made that announcement at a Tuesday morning press conference held at the Community Action Agency of New Haven’s headquarters at 419 Whalley Ave.

Barton Reeves said that, starting Tuesday, low-income Connecticut residents who have been pushed off of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) since Dec. 1, 2025, because they have failed to meet new work requirements — or “community engagement” requirements — are eligible to receive a one-time $300 benefit. Those new federal rules, included in President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” require able-bodied adults to work or participate in a work-training program for at least 80 hours per month in order to qualify for SNAP, formerly known as food stamps.

Eligible recipients must apply for this new state aid through their area’s community action agency. Once verified, they’ll receive $300 electronically — through the phone app Akimbo — that they can use at grocery stores or farmers markets or anywhere else that accepts SNAP. (Barton Reeves said there will also be a limited number of physical cards available, though the state is encouraging eligible recipients to get this benefit electronically.)

These one-time $300 benefits are funded through $8.5 million from the state — $7.5 million for the food aid itself, and $1 million to cover administrative costs for the relevant community action agencies. The money will come out of Connecticut’s Federal Cuts Response Fund.

Barton Reeves said that this aid, newly accessible as of Tuesday, will be available through December. Then the state will have to figure out whether or not to continue it or come up with another way to support food-insecure Connecticut residents who no longer qualify for SNAP.

The “Big Beautiful Bill,” also known as H.R. 1, that was passed by President Trump and Republicans in Congress last year “is really a moral outrage,” Lesser said. “It is an act of almost unspeakable cruelty” by taking away food-aid for the needy and providing tax breaks for the wealthy.

Elicker said that, in all of his years in local government, “I’m not sure I’ve seen an example as inhumane” as pushing kids off of food assistance. “No one should be without food,” he said.

Elicker also spoke about how the city sued the Trump administration last year to try to stop the federal government from suspending the nation’s largest food assistance program amid a government shutdown. And he noted that the city has included $350,000 in food aid in this year’s budget. (The mayor’s originally proposed budget would have cut food aid, leading local advocates to press alders to restore that financial support.)

Barton Reeves estimated on Tuesday that 30,000 Connecticut residents will be pushed off of SNAP because of new federal work requirements. She said around 15,000 already lost their SNAP benefits in April for this exact reason; she said another 10,000 to 15,000 are expected to lose SNAP in late August because of the new work requirements, too. She and Lamont also said that the state has helped 5,000 people who were at risk of losing their SNAP benefits maintain their food aid by filling out all of the relevant new paperwork.

“They’re making it so much more complicated,” Lamont said about these new federal requirements for those on SNAP.

“As Justin [Elicker] said, we are fighting back.”

Lamont also noted that “it’s not just SNAP benefits” that low-income Connecticut residents are at risk of losing because of new onerous federal requirements. “Up next is Medicaid.” The state is working hard now to make sure low-income people don’t lose their health insurance, too.

“Let’s make sure we maximize the programs we have.”

Barton Reeves said that the average monthly SNAP benefit is around $180. This $300 state-funded food aid, meanwhile, is one time, as opposed to monthly.

She added that multiple people in a single family can be eligible to receive these $300 benefits, as they are available for any individual who lost SNAP since last December because they did not meet the new federal work requirements. As a Tuesday morning press release from the governor’s office states, “The benefit is available per individual, not per household, and the amount is the same for every eligible recipient.”

“We know what happens when a family’s grocery budget disappears overnight—it doesn’t just affect what’s on the table, it affects health, stress, and stability at home,” Barton Reeves is quoted as saying in Tuesday’s press release. “This benefit won’t undo the impact of these federal changes, but it’s real, immediate help, and our community action agency partners are ready to make sure it reaches the people who need it—along with the support to help them regain SNAP eligibility going forward.”

Gov. Lamont …

… Mayor Elicker …

… and State Sen. Lesser at Tuesday’s press conference.

Lamont, who is in the closing stretch of a Democratic primary race for governor, chopping it up afterwards with New Haven DTC Vice-Chair Audrey Tyson and Lesser.