What is Connecticut’s new emergency response fund?

Gov. Lamont must protect SNAP before people lose food, heating, and more

Federal cuts and changes to HUSKY are coming, and ones to SNAP are already here. The Connecticut legislature has taken a first step in confronting them through the creation of a $500 million emergency response fund, but the state has to take concrete action before more people lose access to food, heat, healthcare, and more.

The fund, approved by the legislature and governor during a special session in November, is a one-time fund that must be used to confront the federal government’s cruel cuts to programs that keep people healthy, warm, and fed. However, if Gov. Lamont doesn’t tell the state to spend the money before Feb. 4, all of the $500 million will go toward paying off pension debt, instead of the food and healthcare Connecticut residents need now. If Lamont announces how he plans to use the money, a group of six political leaders still need to approve the proposal. 

The emergency response fund happened because thousands of people stepped up to tell their lawmakers to protect HUSKY and SNAP. Now, the state must follow through with a plan.

There is a firm deadline Lamont must meet. People need to heat their homes and eat. Residents are struggling when the state is sitting on money that can be used to help.

The federal government shutdown left people on SNAP scrambling to find a way to put food on the table, stretched food pantries beyond their breaking points, and highlighted how the state isn’t prepared for people to lose SNAP to federal cuts. 

New SNAP work requirement rules went into effect on Dec. 1, and 58,000 people in our state are now at risk of losing their food because of it. 

We already know that changes like work requirements don’t work for our state. When dozens of Connecticut towns were mandated by the federal government to enforce similar work requirements in 2016, 25% of people on SNAP lost their coverage. People with chronic health conditions were more likely to lose their benefits than people without a chronic condition, and many people who lost their benefits were already working.

The threat isn’t over. The crisis has already begun, but the state can act now. The $500 million in the federal response fund is a one-time fund that can cover the gap for now. 

Lamont has to issue a plan for the state to use the money to help people before Feb. 4, and the panel has to approve it. Lawmakers must commit during 2026’s legislative session to protecting as many people from losing HUSKY and SNAP as they can.

Unless the state takes action, about 58,000 Connecticut residents could lose SNAP benefits because of cuts and changes contained in H.R. 1, also known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” and more than 168,000 could lose HUSKY. Connecticut must continue to push to protect working class people.

Take action now to tell your lawmakers to fight for SNAP and HUSKY.