Conn. lawmakers consider using emergency fund for state SNAP, insurance aid
Advocates are pushing the legislature to create a state-run SNAP program to provide benefits to people who lose federal assistance.
A bill calls for the state to shift $40 million from an emergency fund to help pay for the program, amid fears that thousands of people in Connecticut will lose their benefits because of stricter work requirements.
“The state of Connecticut set aside 500 million dollars for this emergency, and it’s time that we use it because we can’t food bank our way out of this crisis,” Connecticut Project Action Fund Campaign Manager Coralys Santana said.
Santana and others warned during a public hearing on Tuesday that some recipients will lose benefits due to paperwork problems, even if they still meet eligibility requirements.
The bill identifies vulnerable groups of people, including veterans, domestic violence victims, and homeless families, who could be eligible for assistance from the state-run program.
It calls for a benefit of at least $192 a month for 12 months.
Sen. Matt Lesser (D-Middletown) said on an upcoming episode of Face More Facts with Mike and Mike that the state-run program is meant to be temporary.
“Veterans, survivors of domestic violence, there are a whole bunch of different folks who are going to be losing a food benefit that we really need to be doing everything we can to support,” he said.
The legislature last fall set aside $500 million into an emergency fund to guard against federal cuts.
Gov. Ned Lamont (D-Connecticut) has used nearly $200 million so far for various federal cuts and to continue enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies that expired at the federal level at the end of the year.
The current rules for the fund require Lamont to authorize an expenditure, while legislative leaders can vote to override his plan.
His Social Services Commissioner, Andrea Barton Reeves, raised concerns during the public hearing that a state-run SNAP program comes with plenty of administrative burdens.
“We would need terminals and cards and quality assurance and a fraud unit, all the things that we have for our current snap program,” she said, adding Connecticut would need to recreate what’s necessary for the federal program.
Lawmakers have other plans for the remaining $300 million, including a trust fund to continue providing enhanced state-level insurance subsidies.
A separate bill would put $200 million into the fund, which Lesser said would be enough to provide assistance for the next few years.
He acknowledged the state needs to find ways to make plans purchased from the Access Health Connecticut Exchange more affordable, but warned people could face a price spike if subsidies expire at the end of the year.
“We’ve got to put some money in,” Lesser said. “It’s all well and good to talk about health reform, but we’ve got to put some money in.”
Sen. Jason Perillo, (R-Shelton), said he’s open to the idea of providing temporary help, but he doesn’t think the state can offer ongoing assistance with healthcare premiums.
“We can bridge the gap when it comes to short-term assistance, but it can’t be long-term, and it can’t be a way of life,” he said.
Perillo expressed similar thoughts about a state-run SNAP program to provide temporary help to certain groups of people.
A spokesman for Lamont, meanwhile, said he needed to review the proposal of a trust fund for healthcare tax credits.
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