The shutdown reminded all of America how critical SNAP is. We must protect SNAP to continue ensuring that low-income families can put food on the table.
BOSTON, MA (November 14, 2025) – For the first time in American history, SNAP households did not get their food benefits on time because the Trump Administration refused to use available funds during the government shutdown. 650,000 low-income Massachusetts households were affected by the chaos, uncertainty, and unprecedented delay in SNAP benefits.
While all Massachusetts SNAP households have now received November SNAP, the failure to issue timely benefits forced residents to go hungry, caused immense financial distress, and flooded an already-stretched-thin emergency food system. Our emergency food network served thousands of residents with dignity and care during a dark time. We applaud their work. At the same time, the disruption of SNAP created an enormous gap that our food bank networks were never designed to fill. Forcing residents to rely on charity to eat is a moral and societal failure.
The past couple of weeks have demonstrated that SNAP is a foundational part of our nation’s health and wellbeing. Our federal and state governments must prevent the appalling failures of the past two weeks from ever happening again. Massachusetts must work to ensure that in any future shutdowns, if the President refuses to fund SNAP, the state has a plan to ensure SNAP is not interrupted.
As the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) told the Federal District court: “SNAP benefits directly fund one of the most crucial basic human needs: access to food. Failure to deliver on that basic need as promised is a deep violation of residents’ trust.” We must now act with urgency to defend SNAP and rebuild trust on both a federal and state level.
On the federal level, we are grateful to our entire Congressional Delegation for their leadership in opposing cuts to SNAP. We urge Congress to act quickly to rescind H.R. 1’s massive SNAP cuts. H.R. 1 eviscerates SNAP and takes food off the table for millions of Americans. An immediate repeal of its deep SNAP harms is paramount.
However, in Massachusetts, we cannot rely on a federal administration which, as Governor Healey emphasized, repeatedly chooses to starve Americans. While the Trump Administration is focused on shredding our nation’s safety net, our state must lead the way by investing in SNAP and the anti-poverty programs we know work.
Even before the shutdown, Massachusetts families faced serious barriers getting assistance. The Healey Administration and the Legislature must ensure DTA has enough staff to timely serve eligible families while also mitigating the harmful changes imposed by H.R. 1.
MLRI is grateful to the hardworking staff at the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) and the Healey Administration for getting SNAP out quickly to residents who desperately needed to buy food. We also applaud and thank Attorney General Andrea Campbell and her office, along with states, localities, and organizations across the country, for their efforts in court to force President Trump to release SNAP funds.
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About Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (MLRI)
Founded in 1968, Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (MLRI) is a nonprofit poverty law and policy program that provides statewide advocacy and leadership in advancing laws, policies, and practices that secure economic, racial, and social justice for low-income people and communities. To learn more, visit MLRI.org.
Media Contact
Maddie Graf, mgraf@mlri.org | (857) 241-1745