What is SNAP?
Who qualifies, how that could change, and what Connecticut can do to protect people
Your grocery bill is likely much higher than it was a few years ago. For many people, the rising cost of food, housing, and utilities is making it harder to make ends meet. Programs like SNAP can help bridge the gap to make things a little easier. However, SNAP is under threat.
Last year, more than 400,000 Connecticut residents used SNAP to help pay for groceries. More than half of those were families with children, and 20% of households receiving SNAP include someone who is elderly or has a disability. Unless Connecticut steps in, people may be forced to decide between paying for groceries or making rent.
The new federal budget unfairly cuts funding and access to SNAP. It is still not clear when cuts and changes will happen, because the state has not received a timeline from the federal government. If you are currently using SNAP, you should still receive it until you hear otherwise.
In Connecticut, we care about our neighbors. State leaders have the power to step in and prevent people from losing their food. Take action to tell them to protect SNAP.
What is SNAP?
SNAP stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. It is sometimes referred to as “food stamps.” It helps people afford food when they are having a tough time making ends meet.
SNAP is money for food for working class adults, seniors, people with disabilities, babies, veterans, and children, so they can afford healthy food every month. Groceries are expensive, and costs are only going up. SNAP allows people to feed themselves and their families, and it’s meant to ensure people don’t have to choose between keeping their heat on or filling their bellies. It helps our grocery stores and farms stay open, builds healthier communities, and gives people a chance to get on their feet and build strong futures.
SNAP is the name of the benefits program. EBT (electronic benefits transfer) is how the funds get to people – an EBT card is how people use SNAP. EBT cards are also used for other benefits programs, like TANF.
If you qualify, you can only use SNAP to buy certain foods, like produce, meat, dairy, and bread. You can also use it to buy seeds or plants so you can grow your own food. You cannot use SNAP to buy alcohol, vitamins, prepared food (like something you would get at a restaurant), or household supplies. A good rule of thumb is that food qualifies if you use it to make a meal at home.
Who qualifies for SNAP?
As the price of groceries continues to rise, more and more people are finding it harder to make their budget work. SNAP can help close the gap.
You may qualify based on your income and how many people are in your household. This doesn’t just include income from a job. Cash assistance, Social Security benefits, unemployment, and child support also count. There are special rules for people over the age of 60 or who have a disability, although the federal government is changing these.
Your household includes you, your spouse, any children under the age of 22, and other people you buy and prepare most of your meals with.
You can find more information on who qualifies from the state.
There is a limit to how long you can use SNAP. Depending on your circumstances, you can receive benefits for as little as one month, or as long as three years. A “certification period” will be listed in an approval letter telling you how long your benefits will last.
While there is still uncertainty about when changes to SNAP will happen, the federal cuts and changes to who qualifies will hurt families, children, and our economy if Connecticut doesn’t step in. Fewer people who need help affording food will be able to get it. Healthy communities are strong communities. Our state needs to intervene so we can keep people fed and prevent people from unfairly being blocked from getting help.
How to apply for SNAP
You can apply for SNAP online, by mail, or in person. The government may ask for additional information or documents like your lease or mortgage statement, utility bill, child support court orders, or other information. If you work, you may need to be prepared to show your pay stubs for the last four weeks.
The government may require you to do an interview before it makes a decision.
You may be approved for SNAP within seven days if you’re in an emergency situation. If not, expect to hear back within 30 days.
What will change with the new federal budget?
The Connecticut Department of Social Services is tracking changes to SNAP and when they will happen.
But the bottom line is that unless our state does something, people are at risk of losing their food because of federal cuts and changes to SNAP.
The federal budget demands new work requirements, which means more people will have to make money at a job or volunteer for 80 hours a month in order to qualify for SNAP, although it is still not clear when they will go into effect. There are already work requirements for SNAP, but the changes get rid of some of the existing exemptions to those rules.
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.
People losing their food is bad enough. But if Connecticut doesn’t protect people from losing SNAP, the state could lose 1,200 jobs, and our economy will lose more than $2.5 million next year. When it’s hard to make ends meet, people can cut back on buying food, which means that grocery stores and farmers make less money. When businesses make less money, they lay off employees. Cutting SNAP not only hurts the people who receive it. It hurts our entire state’s economy.
This doesn’t have to happen
Connecticut has the money and the power to help. But the state has to act now.
Our leaders know that this is unfair. Gov. Ned Lamont acknowledged that reality in a June letter to Congressional leaders, stating alongside other governors: “If states are forced to end their SNAP programs, hunger and poverty will increase, children and adults will get sicker, grocery stores in rural areas will struggle to stay open, people in agriculture and the food industry will lose jobs, and state and local economies will suffer.” But he and state legislators need to act now, before it’s too late.
Protecting people from losing benefits is the right thing to do. No one should be forced to decide between paying for groceries or rent, utilities, or seeing the doctor. People rely on SNAP to get through tough times while keeping food on the table. It is unfair to take away a program that helps to close the gap between what someone can spend and how much groceries cost, especially when Connecticut is sitting on extra money.
We can prevent children, adults, and elderly people from losing access to the program that helps them afford food. In Connecticut, we look out for each other. Our lawmakers have a responsibility to defend us against unfair cuts.
Take action now to tell the state to protect access to SNAP and HUSKY.
