With steep cuts to federal food assistance signed into law, state leaders in Massachusetts are looking to get ahead of the worst possible outcomes while pinning down how to address hunger in the Commonwealth.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration’s sweeping tax and spending bill became law, bringing with it a litany of cuts and changes to federal programs – from allotting historic levels of funding to Immigration and Customs Enforcement to cutting billions in Medicaid spending over the next decade.
Another series of cuts to be rolled out - at least $186 billion in reductions for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP, according to the Congressional Budget Office, as reported by NPR.
That’s in addition to work requirements that could lead to as many as 3 million people losing SNAP benefits across the country, the CBO estimates.
In Massachusetts, just over 1 million residents rely on SNAP, and with food insecurity on the rise in parts of the state, especially the Pioneer Valley, leaders are looking to act.
Joined by regional food bank workers, farmers and members of her cabinet in Medford Thursday, Governor Maura Healey announced the creation of a special “Anti-Hunger Task Force” – an entity that will work to “prevent Massachusetts families from going hungry as President Trump cuts food assistance for children, seniors, veterans and people with disabilities.”
“We're at a time right now where President Trump and Republicans in congress have made cuts, including cuts to resources that feed kids and seniors and families across this country,” said Healey. “In the midst of that, it was very important to the [Lieutenant Governor] and me that we bring everyone together and say ‘We're going to work together like never before to make sure that we are doing everything that we can to end and prevent hunger in the Bay State.’”
Healey argues the federal cuts could force more households to choose between food, rent or medication.
“SNAP injects $3 billion annually into the Massachusetts economy - $3 billion for small businesses and retailers - from these food support programs that now have been cut,” she added, touching on the cuts’ economic impact. “5,500 businesses - it includes our local farms, our shops, small grocers, food pantries and distribution centers always under strain, [that] are going to be more under strain than ever before, facing heightened demand and fewer resources.”
With the passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” more food aid costs are being shifted to the states. According to Harvest Public Media, in fall 2026, “states will have to pay for 75 percent of the administrative costs” of SNAP, up from 50 percent, and states could be responsible for a portion of benefit costs beginning in fall 2027.
While the federal government has long fully-funded the cost of SNAP benefits, over the next few years, states will be expected to ante up.
Estimates on how much the state might have to spend starting in 2027 vary, though in New York's case, it could be as much as $1.1 billion annually to make up the loss, says the organization Citizens Committee for Children of New York, with the office of Gov. Kathy Hochul estimating the cost being closer to $1.4 billion.
As Healey and others noted, the cuts come as food banks and nonprofits in parts of the commonwealth grapple with rising food insecurity levels.
Released in June, the Greater Boston Food Bank put out its annual statewide food access report, “The Cost of Hunger in Massachusetts.”
According to GBFB President and CEO Catherine D’Amato, the report found over one in three Massachusetts households experienced some form of food insecurity as of 2024.
Those figures are even higher in the Pioneer Valley – 1 in 2 households in Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden counties, up 6 to 13 percent in some areas compared to 2023 levels.
D’Amato calls the report a wake-up call.
“They’re not just statistics – these are actually people,” she said. “These are our neighbors, families being forced to choose between paying rent or buying groceries, adults skipping meals for their medication or to feed their children, children forgoing medical, education or missing school and veterans waiting in long car lines in order to get some food resources.”
“The cost of hunger is far more than financial,” D’Amato continued. “It's isolating and it impacts families around their educational and economic opportunities.”
The Healey administration notes rates of hunger in the state have risen over the past five years, from 19 percent in 2019 to 37 percent in 2024.
With support like SNAP being reduced, the new task force, a public-private partnership involving Healey’s cabinet, food bank representatives and others, will “work in coordination with existing food security initiatives in Massachusetts” to create a “a coordinated, community-informed roadmap to end hunger” in the state, the administration says.
Healey’s office gave no timeline as to when officials hope to see such a roadmap emerge or when the task force, which was created via executive order, might hold its first meeting.
