As state braces for the loss of SNAP, Osten fears southeastern CT has been left out of rescue efforts

The Day – Monday, October 27, 2025
By Alison Cross

With more than 360,000 Connecticut residents set to lose SNAP benefits on Nov. 1 as a result of the government shutdown, state Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, said she’s concerned that Gov. Ned Lamont administration’s infusion of millions of dollars in emergency funds will not reach hungry families in southeastern Connecticut.

Lamont announced the launch of the $3 million program on Monday as households across the state brace for the loss of more than $70 million in monthly federal benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps. Lamont said the state funding will provide 6 million meals over the next two weeks to pantries in Connecticut Foodshare’s distribution network.

But Osten said 41 food pantries in southeastern Connecticut are not on Connecticut Foodshare’s distribution list.

“There’s still work that needs to be done because we can’t leave out fully a third of the state,” Osten said at Lamont’s news conference in Wallingford on Monday. “I am extremely worried about people that are going to be calling me on Saturday because they have no money for food.”

The Gemma E. Moran United Way/Labor Food Center provides food to an estimated 27,500 people in New London County each month through its network of 67 local food pantries, shelters, and community meal sites. Dina Sears-Graves, the president and CEO of United Way of Southeastern Connecticut, said that only 26 of these locations — less than 40% — are on Connecticut Foodshare’s distribution list for the emergency meals.

While Connecticut Foodshare leaders said they intend to work with the United Way of Southeastern Connecticut, Sears-Graves said it is unclear what portion of the emergency meals will come to the Gemma Moran Food Center and whether it will be proportionate to the region’s needs.

Sears-Graves said that the loss of SNAP benefits will be devastating to southeastern Connecticut, which she said was already experiencing an increase in need from families struggling to keep up with rising costs and addressing the needs of federal workers at the Coast Guard Academy and Naval Submarine Base who have been furloughed without pay since the government shut down on Oct. 1.

“This is going to be a huge hole that needs to be filled,” Sears-Graves said. “It’s such a huge monetary loss, I don’t know how you make that up.”

SNAP provides roughly 363,500 residents in the state with an average benefit of $193 a month for groceries, according to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. By comparison, the USDA reported in August that the cost of a month’s worth of food for a single U.S. adult ranged from $260 to $472.

Connecticut Foodshare President and CEO Jason Jakubowski described SNAP as “the first line of defense against hunger in the state of Connecticut and in the United States.”

“For every meal that we provide here at this food bank, SNAP provides nine,” Jakubowski said at Monday’s news conference. “There is not enough food at this food bank — or every food bank in the country put together — to make up for the loss that we’re going to see in SNAP.”

In a statement on Friday, New London Human Services Director Jeanne Milstein said the city’s “most vulnerable seniors, families, and our neighbors with disabilities will be the most impacted by the loss of these nutrition benefits.”

City officials said Milstein and Mayor Michael Passero were working with the United Way of Southeastern Connecticut and state leaders “to find strategies to help compensate residents for the loss of SNAP benefits.”

“We do not want our families to go hungry because of the budget impasse in Washington,” Passero said in the statement. “We hope for a resolution by Nov. 1, but we are preparing for the worst if that does not happen.”

The state Department of Social Services said that residents will still be able to make purchases with unused SNAP benefits on their EBT cards, but no new benefits will be issued next month unless the government reopens.

Lamont said the state is paying for the $3 million program using funds from the Medicaid budget. If the shutdown continues, Lamont said the state would pull from its rainy day fund.

“This is a time we want to step up and help people out,” Lamont said. “We’re going to try this out for a couple of weeks. We’re going to see what the need is going forward. Hopefully, they can solve this impasse down in Washington — I think it’s long overdue — but if not, I think we’ll be here to help out people as best we can.”

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