All Massachusetts residents eligible so far this month for federal government food assistance have received their full SNAP benefits, Gov. Maura Healey said Monday as drama continued in courtrooms and Congress over benefit delivery and the federal government shutdown.
“My message to every SNAP recipient out there is this: Forget the noise that you’re hearing from Donald Trump. Forget the noise about further appeals to the Supreme Court,” Healey said at a press conference in her office. “I want you to know, because of the actions we took, SNAP benefits have been restored to your cards. Go out and buy the food that you need to feed your family.”
A flurry of court actions surrounding the delivery of SNAP benefits has continued to create turmoil around the federal program amid a historically long government shutdown.
SNAP benefits are delivered on a staggered basis over the first half of each month, and Healey described a “timeline for when people receive SNAP.”
“I can tell you that anybody who has been eligible to receive SNAP to date, or who missed their payments last week, has received their SNAP benefits now,” the governor said. “Now we’ll continue to apply for and send out SNAP benefits as people become eligible over the coming days and months in the normal course. That’s how it works in the normal course.”
The SNAP relief fund that the Healey administration and United Way launched on Oct. 24 has now raised more than $5 million. Healey said that money is being distributed to food pantries and organizations statewide to “get food to as many people as possible.”
A federal judge earlier Monday temporarily blocked an effort by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to force states to take back the full SNAP benefits they issued, Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office said. Further relief was up for discussion at a federal court hearing later Monday.
On Saturday, the USDA asserted that states that sent full SNAP payment files for November were “unauthorized,” called on states to “undo any steps taken to issue full SNAP benefits for November, and threatened non-compliant states with the cancellation of federal cost-sharing.
“We had federal workers who never contemplated going to a food pantry line up at Massachusetts food pantries this weekend. This is Donald Trump,” Healey said. “This is the world he’s created. I hope he takes a read from the election results last week, which really were a rejection of his failed economic policies, and that he start to step up and do what’s right by the American people.”
Democrats saw victories in the New York City mayoral election, as well as gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia.
The U.S. Senate on Sunday secured support from enough Democrats on three year-long spending bills that could pave the way to reopening the government. The deal does not extend health care tax credits that are due to expire at the end of this year, but calls for a debate on that topic in December.
U.S. Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren oppose the compromise. In a social media post Sunday, Warren said, “I will not support a deal that does nothing to make health care more affordable.” On the Senate floor Monday, Markey said, “The Republicans are just punting this issue” of tax credits.
“They’re going to remember your vote if you do not solve this problem,” Markey said, warning of political peril at the ballot box for Republicans, and looking ahead to a health care debate by the second week in December.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the branch is processing a continuing resolution that comes with three year-long appropriations bills for various government agencies and programs.
“These bills will fund SNAP for the entire fiscal year. They will fund WIC for the entire fiscal year. And they will fund our veterans for the entire fiscal year,” Thune said on the Senate floor Sunday. “After 40 days of uncertainty, I’m profoundly glad to be able to announce that nutrition programs, our veterans, and other critical priorities will have their full-year funding.”
While the government may be on a reopening path, Healey spoke on Monday as though the shutdown was over when asked whether Congress should vote on a deal that does include health care tax credit extensions.
“Look, I’m glad the government reopened. I am very distressed and concerned that that happened without securing any effort to make sure that we were preventing health care costs from skyrocketing around this country,” Healey said. “What needs to happen now is Republicans and the president need to get back together in Congress and work through a vote to make sure that these tax credits are extended so that people have health insurance, so that they don’t, come December, see their health insurance go away.”
Healey, asked how much blame she ascribes to the eight Senate Democrats who got on board with the deal over the weekend, said, “There’s no blame here.” She criticized House Speaker Mike Johnson for not calling Republicans back to work, though Johnson on Monday called on representatives to return to Washington, D.C. “right now.”
“At the very moment that they do that final vote[,] I will call all House Members to return to Washington as quickly as possible,” Johnson said of Senate action on the continuing resolution. “We’ll give a 36-hour formal and official notice so that we can vote as soon as possible to pass the amended CR bill and get it to the President’s desk.”
He added: “Now, we look forward to the government reopening this week so Congress can get back to our regular legislative session.”
Open enrollment kicked off at the Health Connector on Nov. 1. Thousands of Bay Staters are grappling with skyrocketing premiums due to the expiring tax credits. Around 19,000 residents earning between 400%-500% of the federal poverty level could become disqualified from heavily subsidized ConnectorCare plans starting on Jan. 1, though they could regain tax credits if Congress ultimately chooses to extend them.
“We’re just over a week in, but already we are hearing the palpable frustration, concern and worry as members face incredibly difficult choices,” Health Connector Executive Director Audrey Morse Gasteier said.
“Some are choosing lower-cost plans, even if it means having to switch doctors,” she continued. “Some are rolling the dice, picking plans with higher out-of-pocket costs they hope they don’t need to spend. Some are so shocked by an increase their household budget just can’t absorb that they simply don’t know what to do, and are waiting and hoping for the tax credits to be extended.”
Massachusetts residents are required to be insured under state law, or otherwise they’ll face a tax penalty. Pressed whether Massachusetts has a contingency plan if the tax credits are not extended, Healey said, “All we can do is work with our navigators and the Health Connector to try to get people into lower-cost plans.”
“But no states can handle this,” Healey said. “No state can make up for this, which is why Congress and the president need to act.”
