‘Potentially catastrophic': While Congress cuts safety net, Mass. lawmakers pass budget short on cash for SNAP caseworkers

Boston Globe

02-07-2025

Specifically, the final budget deal did not include money to continue employing the current number of caseworkers in the state's
Anti-hunger advocates warn that
the lack of extra funding means the state's poorest residents will find it even harder to connect with food and cash benefits.
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'Food insecurity doesn't disappear when funding does,' said SEIU 509 President Dave Foley, who represents DTA workers. 'Now is the time for the state to invest in these services, not slash them.'
In passing their
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The final state budget package included $101.2 million for DTA, which mirrors the state House's proposal. But the total is less than the $142.9 million both Healey and the Senate originally proposed.
That's slightly more than the agency received in the fiscal 2025 budget, but significantly less funding than it got overall, thanks to
Anti-hunger advocates say that unless the Governor and Legislature authorize additional funding again this year, DTA may have to lay off hundreds of caseworkers at the same time federal changes deliver a vast expansion of onerous, complex work rules. Foley, the union president, also said the funding level approved by the Legislature would lead to layoffs.
'In a normal year, this would be a really significant newsworthy item,' said Victoria Negus, a policy advocate at the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute who specializes in SNAP and cash assistance benefits. 'Now, it's potentially catastrophic.'
A spokesperson for House Speaker Ronald Mariano said the lower level of DTA funding ultimately included in the budget is due to 'tight fiscal constraints . . . as a result of significant economic uncertainty and federal mismanagement.'
Max Ratner, Mariano's spokesperson, also pointed out that the budget included funding for other food initiatives as well as money to continue the
In
The department has seen significant growth in caseload, McCue said, and expects more growth due to the rising cost of living and threats to federally funded safety net programs.
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'The support of the Commonwealth to our most vulnerable residents is particularly critical during this time, as we face uncertainty and attacks on vital programs that put funds directly into the hands of people experiencing deep poverty,' McCue said.
As of Tuesday, Healey has nine days to review the budget and wield line-item veto power, which enables her to send provisions back to the Legislature with amendments, if she wants.
Foley, the union president, said his members are 'on the front lines of the fight against hunger every single day.'
'These cuts could result in job loss for more than 300 caseworkers,' he said, urging Healey to 'immediately file a supplemental budget to restore these funds.'
A spokesperson for Healey said in a statement that the governor is 'reviewing the budget.'
More than 1 million Massachusetts residents receive SNAP benefits, and thousands more receive cash
aid for the elderly and disabled, summer nutrition for children who rely on free school meals, and free workforce training. Of the 1 million people receiving SNAP, more than 340,000 are minors.
Changes coming from Washington would strain the DTA's caseworkers further, making any layoffs more detrimental, advocates warn. If signed into law, Trump's tax bill would add more red tape
and financial strain on the states, which means more work for the DTA. The Trump bill, in its current form, would expand the SNAP work requirement to include adults up to age 65 without children or with children aged 14 or older, the homeless, veterans, and former foster children.
It would also restrict some states' ability to waive the work requirements, cut off legally present noncitizens from using SNAP, and reduce federal spending on SNAP by roughly $186 billion. The cuts to food assistance are designed to partly offset the cost of extending the tax cuts that became law during Trump's first term and Trump's other domestic priorities.
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Further, the state will also be on the hook for a larger share of SNAP's administrative costs. The bill passed by the US Senate on Tuesday would ultimately require states to cover 75 percent of costs for SNAP, up from 50 percent — a responsibility Healey has said could cost the state an extra $53 million per year. The state share of administrative costs would grow from $106.6 million currently to $159.9 million, she said.
The bill has to pass the House again before Trump can sign it into law.
Nearly 3.2 million people could be cut off from SNAP if the US Senate's bill becomes law, according to the nonpartisan
which didn't provide a state-by-state breakdown.
'This is an exorbitant burden on Massachusetts,' Healey
Samantha J. Gross can be reached at