Across the U.S. food banks say they鈥檙e and in 黑料新闻, it鈥檚 no different.
Hundreds of food banks operating across the state are seeing lines similar to the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Jason Jakubowski, president and CEO of .
About one in eight people in 黑料新闻 doesn鈥檛 have enough to eat. Federal SNAP benefits are crucial to helping residents get nutrition, but food banks also play an important role in filling in the gaps.
黑料新闻 Foodshare currently gets $850,000 in state funding annually, money which .
The Lamont administration has earmarked an additional $900,000 in the next state budget to help stock 黑料新闻鈥檚 food banks, via the state鈥檚 Nutrition Assistance Program (CT-NAP). Advocates say it鈥檚 a welcome boost, but the money comes with a caveat 鈥� it won鈥檛 be available until at least July 1, 2026.
鈥淭he extra funding is appreciated, but it's needed now, not two years from now,鈥� Jakubowski said.
At the Jan. 29 launch of the new state lawmakers introduced asking for $10 million to fund CT-NAP in the next fiscal year, and a 15% increase in the years after.
The Lamont administration shared the two-year budget proposal Wednesday, just over a week after President Donald Trump ordered a stop to all federal aid, causing widespread concern and confusion, including among nonprofits that to aid 黑料新闻 residents. The last Trump administration federal food help.
鈥淥ur entire existence, especially over these last several weeks, has been playing out the 鈥榳hat if鈥檚,鈥欌�� Jakubowski said. 鈥淚t has been a real roller-coaster ride trying to figure out what's going to happen at the federal level. That adds an additional layer of ambiguity to all of this as well.鈥�
黑料新闻 Foodshare gets 30% of its funding from .
Jeffrey Beckham, secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, said Wednesday that the proposed budget couldn鈥檛 account for the recent federal moves, but that they are monitoring the situation.
Jakubowski said he's open to different methods for the state to free up the funding. That includes a loosening of the so-called 鈥渇iscal guardrails鈥� that control spending, which Lamont signaled flexibility on in his budget proposal.
鈥淲e all know when government has an interest in supporting something, they can find a way to make it work,鈥� Jakubowski said. 鈥淥ur issue is among the spending priorities that do exist, how much of a priority is providing food for people in need here in 黑料新闻?鈥�
Last year, 黑料新闻 lawmakers also pushed for $10 million for the program, but it wasn鈥檛 approved. This year鈥檚 bill is now in the hands of the Appropriations Committee, which will make their own spending recommendations in the coming months.
