BOSTON (WHDH) – At a rally Tuesday outside of the statehouse, Massachusetts Attorney General (AG) Andrea Joy Campbell announced she will join 21 other AGs and three governors in filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration for suspending the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
This weekend, SNAP benefits will stop being issued nationwide as the latest effect of the nearly month-long government shutdown.
Several anti-hunger organizations showed up in an effort to preserve expiring SNAP benefits.
“More than one million people in Massachusetts rely on SNAP to put food on the table,” said Campbell. ”Despite having the money to fund SNAP, the Trump Administration is creating needless fear, angst and harm for millions of families and their children especially as we approach the holidays. It is past time for the Trump Administration to act to help, rather than harm, those who rely on our government.”
Local organizers said more than a million Massachusetts residents could see their benefits delayed, many of them low income families, the elderly, or people with disabilities.
“It’s crucial. This is my lifeline that is being intentionally interrupted,” said a woman at the rally.
“Taking away SNAP, it doesn’t just effect our dinner table, it effects our health, our minds, our hearts and our future of our children. I am sorry but I depend on it and i’m just very worried about what I’m gonna do,” said another woman.
“I don’t know exactly what I’m going to do, I don’t know. I have to talk to my friends, see what I can do, maybe have to go to community meals or something. I don’t know what I’m gonna do. I’m scared frankly,” said one woman.
Beatrice Sanchez works with La Colaborativa, an organization that distributes food three times a week to more than 5,000 people in the Chelsea area. She joined others on the steps of the State House Tuesday because she said she is worried about her community.
“There is a large handful of other community members who are completely unaware and it’s really sad because they just don’t know what is coming,” said Sanchez.
Governor Maura Healey said Monday that the state cannot afford the $240 million a month she said it would cost to keep the federal program afloat during the shutdown.
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