How a new SNAP rule about utilities will hurt Connecticut families

It’s going to get harder to heat your home and keep food on the table

More Connecticut families may be faced with choosing  between heating their homes and having enough food on the table after the federal government’s unfair decision to restrict who can use SNAP.

You’ve probably watched your utility bills creep up over the last few years. Not knowing how much it will cost each month can cause anxiety, especially because rates change every six months.

At the same time, it’s also becoming more expensive to stock your pantry and stay fed. 

Right now, the federal government’s “heat and eat” program is meant to make sure working class people don’t have to choose between food and heating in the winter. But because of cuts and changes to SNAP, the program that helps people put food on the table, fewer people may be eligible for heating assistance, too.

What is “Heat & Eat”?

As groceries and utilities get more expensive, working class people are being forced to choose between groceries and heating.

SNAP keeps food on the table for working class people who are trying to get by. Meanwhile, LIHEAP helps working class people to afford utilities like winter heating. LIHEAP (the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program) is known as “CEAP” in Connecticut (Connecticut Energy Assistance Program). More than 100,000 households in Connecticut use CEAP to afford to heat their homes in the winter. 

“Heat & Eat” refers to the connection between utilities and food benefits. This is also referred to as the “SNAP-LIHEAP connection.” Under heat and eat, the government is able to consider how much money a household is spending on utilities each month, and increase their SNAP benefits to make up the difference. For instance, if a household is spending $50 on heating, under heat and eat, they could receive $50 more in SNAP benefits each month to help them avoid having to choose between paying for groceries or warmth.

Under heat and eat, each state has a “Standard Utility Allowance” – standardized amounts that represent how much money utilities cost per month for working class households. In some states, every household applying for heat and eat has to use the Standard Utility Allowance to say how much their utilities cost. In other states, like Connecticut, and households can instead claim how much their utilities actually cost each month.

However, the future of heat and eat  is in jeopardy because of the federal government’s decisions.

What’s changing?

The federal government has decided that only households that include an older adult or a person with disabilities will be able to use Heat & Eat. This means that many people, including families with children, will no longer receive more SNAP benefits to offset the rising cost of utilities. Our state is tracking the changes, but the federal government hasn’t said when they will happen.

It’s expected that states with more expensive utilities and high costs of living, like Connecticut, will see fewer SNAP benefits when the rule changes go into effect. 

States like ours, with higher utility costs and higher costs of living, will be hurt the most by the new Heat & Eat requirements. Other unfair changes, like expanding SNAP work requirements to more groups, will also cut coverage for people in our state. It’s getting harder to pay for food, rent, and utilities. Taking SNAP away, and reducing benefits, will make it even harder to make ends meet.

Tell the state to fight for our services

No one should be cold and hungry. SNAP’s Heat & Eat is meant to make food and utilities unaffordable for working class people. Taking it away from people is cruel, unfair, and dangerous.

Connecticut must step in to protect our services before it’s too late. Take action now to fight for SNAP.