The Greene County Democrat

Tag: SNAP

  • Rural Coalition stands with Massachusetts Food Advocate Liz Wills-O’Gilvie, calls for action as SNAP cuts threaten families, farmers and communities

    Rural Coalition stands with Massachusetts Food Advocate Liz Wills-O’Gilvie, calls for action as SNAP cuts threaten families, farmers and communities

    Rural Coalition joins O’Gilvie in urging state and federal leaders to immediately address barriers to food assistance and listen directly to families, farmers and rural and urban communities

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — August 12, 2026 — Rural Coalition and its members stand today in solidarity with our colleague and member Liz Wills-O’Gilvie, Executive Director of the Springfield Food Policy Council (Mass.), in demanding urgent action from policy makers to address the growing hunger crisis facing families across Massachusetts and throughout the nation.  

    O’Gilvie, 63, also a member of the Governor’s Anti-Hunger Task Force in Massachusetts, stopped eating over a week ago because “I couldn’t sleep at night, with a full belly knowing that children and their families across the State were hungry.” She is calling on Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey and all Governors across the country to immediately “find any loose change in their [state] pockets,” to expand state agency staffing and take action to reach all SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) recipients who have lost SNAP benefits “through no fault of their own,” but due to the draconian rule changes, and to immediately restore them to the program.

    O’Gilvie explained that it started like this: “My neighbor came to my house and asked if she could borrow some food. She told me that her kids had been playing with some neighbor kids and their mother gave her own kids sandwiches. Her kids told the neighbor that they were hungry too, but the mother did not offer them a sandwich – instead she called the Department of Children and Families.”

    “My neighbor told me that DCF was coming by to visit her house but that the pantries that usually open on Friday did not open that Friday. I told her ‘You don’t borrow food’, and that I would buy her some food.  Liz read DTA correspondence and helped her to set up an online account with DTA.  Her lapse in SNAP benefits was all paper – her signature was needed on one document and a birth certificate was not on file for one of her children. “The idea that DCF might be coming to her house due to paperwork was horrifying for me,” said Liz.  “I understood that this was happening in every single city and every single state. I had to do something.”

    “I am standing in hunger out of love for my neighbors—I am sad and mad that people don’t have what they need,” O’Gilvie continued.

     

    SNAP crisis arises as a result of H.R. 1 cuts

    The current crisis emerged due to changes enacted in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”, also known as H.R.1, which took effect on July 4, 2025. According to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, H.R.1 made “deep cuts in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)…shifting significant new costs to states…We expect these harms to grow as states fully implement eligibility restrictions and take actions to lower their error rates.” (see SNAP Tracker- Center for Budget Policies and Priorities)

    Since then, over 64,000 children have been dropped from SNAP rolls in Massachusetts alone. The total number of Massachusetts families who lost benefits through these attempts to bring down payment error rates is over 160,000, which includes eligible families who shouldn’t have been terminated. Behind those numbers, families are being forced to make impossible choices about how to put food on the table, at a time when food costs remain high and community food systems are under immense pressure.

    In their consideration of the long-delayed renewal of the 2018 Farm Bill, Congress has thus far failed to restore cuts made to the SNAP Program in H.R 1. On August 6, 2026, the Senate Agriculture Committee considered only partial delays to the deep cuts to the program already going into effect, cuts which will force states to cover more of the costs administering SNAP and other program costs based on SNAP payment error rates in each state.

    O’Gilvie’s action is directed at bringing increased attention to the causes and real-life consequences families can face when so-called “error rates”—which encompass administrative barriers, paperwork problems, staffing limitations or delays—interrupt access to nutrition assistance. As the impact of these changes grows, O’Gilvie reflected that “I needed to do something to help them to understand what is happening.”

    For the Fiscal Year 2027 state budget, Massachusetts’ Anti-Hunger Task Force recommended $147.7 million in funding to bolster staffing at the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA), the state agency responsible for administering SNAP.  Only $122 million was approved—more than $25 million below the Task Force’s recommendation—was signed into effect. Community members across Massachusetts continue to report widespread disruptions to program services as a result of staffing shortages at DTA.

    For O’Gilvie, this funding gap has significant consequences for families navigating an already strained system. In the second week of May 2026, she assisted a 70-year-old woman with setting up her online SNAP account and uploading required recertification documents. That same woman notified her  that her SNAP benefits were finally reinstated in late July 2026. 

    “Elders at 70 years old can’t travel to the offices to recertify or correct errors in addresses and often don’t have the ability to access online systems” said O’Gilvie. “At the Department of Transitional Assistance, only one in 5 calls is now being answered. And because elders often have special health needs, they can’t find the food they need at food pantries.”

     

    Farmers are losing critical markets as SNAP access declines

    She noted that she worked closely legislators and advocates Massachusetts Healthy Incentives Program (HIP), a state-funded SNAP matching program that is automatically added to every SNAP recipient’s account each month, and accessed when their EBT card is used to buy healthy, local fruits and vegetables from HIP-approved farm vendors. The program was first piloted in Springfield, Mass. These HIP benefits are accessible to every SNAP recipient, even if they have only one cent left on their SNAP benefit card. The HIP benefit ranges from $40-$80 per month  depending on family size, helping to fill the gap until the family’s next SNAP benefit arrives.

    A farmer herself, Liz works with a network of producers across the state. She noted that, as this program grew since its formal enactment in 2016, farmers in Massachusetts have expanded their markets with over $100 million in additional SNAP sales.

    That is another key point she, and Rural Coalition, want policy makers and the public to

    understand. SNAP is not just a critical and effective food program. It also expands the economic viability of farm and ranch operations and local grocers and retailers, and benefits rural communities and their livelihoods, and the health of our overall national economy.

    Passage of a strong Farm Bill is essential to addressing the dire economic conditions farmers and ranchers nationwide are facing, including impacts of tariffs and lost markets, high input costs, disruptions in federal funding, extreme weather conditions, inflation, and much more. As an organization representing thousands of farmers and ranchers across the U.S., Rural Coalition members join O’Gilvie’s call for full restoration of SNAP funds at the national level. These cuts are hurting not just hungry communities, but also producers, because the dollars invested in SNAP and related programs support a critical market for producers in Massachusetts and across the nation.

     

    Rural Coalition calls for immediate action at the State and Federal levels

    Rural Coalition members across the nation ask you to join us in calling on policy makers and the public to support and amplify O’Gilvie’s call for immediate action at the State and Federal level to restore SNAP benefits to children and families. This includes concerted cooperation and action to provide states more time and funds for staffing to assist the additional populations, including elders up to age 65, veterans, caregivers of children over age 14,  people experiencing homelessness, and those living in areas with few job opportunities who under H.R. 1 were newly added to the groups who must submit  detailed documentation to meet the program’s work requirements.

    We further call on you to reach out to your own state leaders and members of Congress to examine what is happening in your own states and determine to what extent eligible residents are losing or struggling to recertify their SNAP benefits because of administrative barriers, and what funding and action is necessary to meet these needs.

    Finally, during last week’s Senate Agriculture Committee Farm Bill Mark-up Senator Cory Booker noted that the Agriculture Committees have heard from so many constituencies who benefit from this nation’s Farm Bill, but not the voices of the people who need and use SNAP and other federal food programs. As Members of Congress return home for town halls, State Fairs, and other public events in the coming weeks, we encourage you to reach out to SNAP recipients, farmers and ranchers, advocates, and rural community members and to help ensure their experiences and needs are uplifted and widely shared.

    We stand in solidarity with O’Gilvie as she calls attention to families struggling to access Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and urges leaders to recognize the broader consequences for families, farmers and local economies.

    We urge supporters across the country to call their Governors and demand action to protect families who have lost or are at risk of losing SNAP benefits. We also call on Congress to hear directly from families, farmers and ranchers, and rural communities affected by these cuts and to restore SNAP funding through the Farm Bill.

    Stand with Liz: Take action to protect SNAP and those who need and use the program

    As we reach the end of the month, as SNAP benefits run out for many families, Rural Coalition joins Ms. Wills-O’Gilvie in her call to the public to commit to taking additional actions to help our neighbors including:

    Rushing support to your local Food Banks.

    Donating half of your CSA share to someone who needs it.

    Asking producers to open your fields to faith communities willing to glean and distribute foods after the harvest.

    Making sure policymakers know of your actions and concerns.

    Finally, please share this message widely on social media and in your community. 

    Liz Wills-O’Gilvie has chosen to go without food because too many of her neighbors are being forced to do the same. Her choice is a call to action. We cannot allow her to stand in hunger alone. Please join us. 

    Featured Image: Anti-hunger advocate Liz Wills-O’Gilvie, 63, said she has not eaten for 15 days in a bid to push Governor Maura Healey to raise funding for Massachusetts’ shrinking food stamp program (REUTERS)

  • Newswire: More Than 770,000 Children Are No Longer Receiving SNAP Benefits After Trump Changes Federal Food Program

    Newswire: More Than 770,000 Children Are No Longer Receiving SNAP Benefits After Trump Changes Federal Food Program

    BY NICOLE SANTA CRUZ, PROPUBLICA

    As a House committee debated President Donald Trump’s signature domestic policy bill last year, Republican backers repeatedly emphasized that its changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps, wouldn’t affect vulnerable people.

    SNAP reforms would “restore integrity” to the program and ensure it works for the “most vulnerable among us, including children,” said Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson, a Pennsylvania Republican and chair of the House Agriculture Committee.

    Passing the bill would be a “historic accomplishment” that will ensure “those in need can continue to receive the assistance they need,” said Rep. John Rose, a Republican from Tennessee.

    And Rep. Dusty Johnson, a South Dakota Republican, said the bill would focus resources on the “neediest” Americans. “If you are a pregnant woman, your benefits are unaffected. If you have young children at home, your benefits are unaffected by this bill. If you are disabled, your benefits are unaffected by this bill.”

    But nearly a year after the measure was signed into law, the number of children receiving food assistance has plummeted by at least 776,000, according to a ProPublica analysis. At least 12 states break down program participation by age, and of the 1,670,011 people who are no longer receiving benefits in those states, 776,134, or 46%, were children.

    Another analysis reached the same conclusion: Just last month, the nonpartisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found there were 700,000 fewer children receiving food assistance.

    Arizona has seen the nation’s largest percentage decline in SNAP participants; 205,223 children are no longer receiving the benefit since July 2025, a 55% drop. Louisiana had the second largest percent decline among children, 22%.

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees SNAP, hasn’t detailed the impact on children aided by the program, but initial figures show that compared to February 2025, 4.3 million fewer people received SNAP nationwide in February 2026, leaving 37.8 million participants.

    Although children weren’t the intended targets of the legislation’s changes, they’re increasingly “collateral damage,” said Katie Bergh, a senior policy analyst at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

    If states are trying to comply with the law’s changes to SNAP, they’re likely not focusing on making the program accessible, Bergh said. Other experts said that people may be pushed off the program because of increased paperwork requirements to remain eligible.

    States are required to impose work requirements for most adult recipients, while preparing for two major cost shifts. In October, states will begin covering 75% of the program’s administrative costs. States have been paying 50% of those costs.

    In addition, states will have to pay a larger share of SNAP benefits starting in October 2027, based on their error rate. Error rates reflect overpayments or underpayments of SNAP benefits. While sometimes characterized as fraud, such errors are usually the fault of the state agency or the SNAP recipient, according to USDA, which describes them as “largely unintentional.”

    If a state agency is facing staffing shortages and struggling to comply with new regulations, it will be harder for low-income families to access the benefits, Bergh said. “Families are falling through the cracks.”

    In Massachusetts, for example, the share of SNAP applicants who called an assistance line and couldn’t reach a worker rose from 61% in November to nearly 81% in March, according to the Department of Transitional Assistance, which administers SNAP in the state. The state agency did not respond to a request for comment.

    A USDA spokesperson did not address ProPublica’s questions about the number of children who have lost access to SNAP. “There is no shortage of resources for the most vulnerable among us, including children,” the spokesperson said.

    The three members of the House Agriculture Committee who defended last year’s bill before its passage — Rose, Thompson and Johnson — did not respond to ProPublica’s questions about their statements now that many children no longer receive SNAP benefits.

    Rep. Jim McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat, asked Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins about her recent comments that it was “good news” that millions of people no longer receive SNAP. If more than 700,000 children have been dropped in the 12 states that report those figures, “that number’s going to be into the millions” when other states are included, he said.

    Rollins responded, “The 700,000 number of children is not correct,” contending that most people who were kicked off SNAP were “fraudulent.”

    “That is not a nonpartisan group that gave you that number,” she said. (ProPublica independently verified the figures reported by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.)

    McGovern said he has talked to people who have lost food assistance. “These are people who actually need and rely on this food assistance to provide basic nutrition for their families,” he said.

    Pressure to lower error rates “creates a temptation for the states to bump off working families,” said Parke Wilde, a food economist at Tufts University. Working families may have more volatile incomes, making it harder for state agencies to assess benefits accurately.

    “When they say we want to preserve SNAP for those with the greatest need, they’re sort of acknowledging that they want the scale of the SNAP program to be smaller,” he said.

    Mariana Chilton, an expert in child hunger at University of Massachusetts, Amherst, said a smaller program won’t save money in the long run. Research shows that children who receive SNAP benefits are healthier, have better academic outcomes, use hospitals less often and have better mental health as teenagers.

    She called the situation a “public health crisis” in the making. “When children are not healthy, this affects children today and it affects them throughout their lifetimes,” she said, likening hunger during early childhood to a brain injury.

    As Arizona’s SNAP participation drops, nonprofits are feeling the effects. St. Mary’s Food Bank, the largest in the state, has seen a 15% increase in need this year, which translates into 300,000 more visits from people in search of food, said Milt Liu, the chief executive officer.

    “It’s important for everyone to realize that policies have implications for people on the edge, and we’re seeing that in our line every day,” he said.

    On a recent morning, Ana Alvarez waited in a line of vehicles at a St. Mary’s food bank in Phoenix. Alvarez, a single mother of five who works at a restaurant, started coming to St. Mary’s after she lost her SNAP benefits in September.

    She reapplied for SNAP with the Arizona Department of Economic Security in December, but the application is still pending. The department did not respond to questions about its backlog.

    She clips coupons and has cut out trips to the zoo and restaurants with her children. The slow season at the restaurant where she works is about to hit. And as summer temperatures rise, Alvarez wonders how she will afford her electric bill, her rent and her car payment.

    At least once a week she contacts the agency about her application. The last time she called, a worker told her what others have in the past: She will have to keep waiting.

    Featured Image: Mary’s Food Bank in Phoenix (Rob Schumacher/THE REPUBLIC/IMAGN)

  • Newswire: First 6 days of War on Iran cost US $11.3 Billion, Pentagon says, But we can’t afford SNAP, right?

    Newswire: First 6 days of War on Iran cost US $11.3 Billion, Pentagon says, But we can’t afford SNAP, right?

    “They got money for war, but can’t feed the poor.” – Tupac Shakur

    According to the Pentagon, the first week of the war against Iran that President Donald Trump involved the U.S. in voluntarily, not out of any discernible necessity, has cost the nation upwards of $11 billion.
    The New York Times reported that Pentagon officials revealed the estimated price tag for the first six days of this war of choice to lawmakers in a closed-door briefing on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, saying the cost of the war had already exceeded $11.3 billion.
    What’s worse is that the estimate doesn’t include all costs, and it’s much higher than previously projected.


    From the Times: The estimate did not include many of the costs associated with the operation, such as the buildup of military hardware and personnel ahead of the first strikes. For that reason, lawmakers expect the number to grow considerably as the Pentagon continues to calculate the costs that accumulated just in the first week.

    Still, it appeared to be the most comprehensive assessment Congress had received so far amid mounting questions about the objectives, scope, and time frame for the war. The New York Times and The Washington Post reported earlier that defense officials had said in recent congressional briefings that the military used up $5.6 billion of munitions in the first two days of the war.

    That is a far larger amount and munitions burn rate than had been publicly disclosed. The Center for Strategic and International Studies had estimated that the first 100 hours of the operation cost $3.7 billion, or $891.4 million each day.

    Not long ago, the U.S. government was shut down for roughly a month and a half, largely because one particular party thought we couldn’t afford to extend health care subsidies. MAGA Republicans are still trying to convince the nation that cutting SNAP benefits is an absolute necessity, lest they bankrupt the U.S. Trump has been telling U.S. citizens to cut back on their spending because his promise to bring down the price of goods turned out to be big, beautiful bullsh-t.

    But we can afford a war of choice that has cost a billion dollars nearly a dozen times over in the first week.

    Oh, well — at least our strikes on Iran aren’t killing innocent school children or anything like that.

    Meanwhile, the Trump administration just keeps boasting about how it is “DEVASTATING” Iran with constant missile strikes. The tweet below was posted by the White House on the same day it was revealed that a preliminary investigation showed the U.S. was likely responsible for a missile striking an Iranian elementary school, reportedly killing 175 people, the overwhelming majority of whom were children.

    “We won’t stop until the military objectives are met,” the White House tweeted.

    Apparently, the administration means what it says, no matter the cost, whether we’re talking about the cost of lives or additional billions in spending that we’ve been told the nation can’t afford to spend on education, food security, healthcare, or anything else that would actually put “America first.” (And that’s their slogan, not all ours.)


    Seriously, if there was any nation in need of an actual regime change, it’s currently the good, old U.S. of A.

  • Only 40.7% of Greene County households have completed the Census Greene County’s Census response rate lags behind state and national rates

    By John Zippert,
    Co-Publisher
    Greene County Democrat
    According to the U.S. Census2020 website as of today, only 40.7% of the households in Greene County have responded to the Census, which counts the population of the entire country every ten years. The 40.7% rate for Greene County lags behind the national rate of 61.4% and the State of Alabama’s rate of 59.8%.
    Marilyn Stephens, Assistant Regional Manager of the Atlanta Region, which includes the State of Alabama, said “ Take ten minutes today to help ensure benefits to your community for the next ten years!”
    Stephens indicated that the coronavirus pandemic had delayed and interfered with some of the schedule for the Census, including house-to-house visits, but that the Census takers would soon be coming around.
    In the meantime, Stephens suggested that those households that have not completed the 2020 Census, can call the toll free number: 1-844-330-2020 and answer the questions by phone. She said you can also use your cell phone, tablet or computer and go to: my2020Census.gov, and complete the Census online.
    Those persons who never received, lost or misplaced the original communication from the Census, which had an identification number, can call in or report online based on their address. Stephens said, “Don’t worry about a deadline, for you the deadline is today, to complete your Census.”
    Stephens said there are two main reasons, why Greene County residents should complete the Census, “First, the population count in the Census is used to determine the apportionment of districts for U. S. Congress, the state legislature and local electoral districts. So if you do not participate in the Census, your state, county and city may lose representation and a voice in making important policy decisions that will affect your life.

    “Second, the Census count is used in distributing $675 Billion or more in Federal and state dollars each year for programs for healthcare, rural hospitals, school lunch programs, senior citizens meals, Headstart, Community Development Block Grants, SNAP, WIC and highway funds. If you do not report in the Census, you are shortchanging your community and your household from receiving a fair and adequate share of these benefits.”
    Rev. Chris Spencer, with the Black Belt Community Foundation, says, “We must work to get every resident counted in the Census to assure that we get the benefits we need from Federal and state programs. Every church, housing development, and community organization needs to check its membership and help make sure that we get one hundred percent completion of the Census. 40% is a good start but we need to finish the job, we need everyone’s help.”
    Carrie Fulghum, Manager of the Eutaw Elderly Village, a thirty unit elderly housing development in the city, with the help of Miriam Leftwitch, a board member, went door to door and helped every resident to complete the Census. “We gave each person, who completed the Census, a ticket in a raffle, and awarded a prize basket of supplies and snacks to the winner. This was a small incentive to help ensure that everyone in our housing community completed the Census. We challenge every other housing development in our city and county to do the same.”
    Kinya Isaac, who is the Census Coordinator for Greene County, said, “When you talk with your friends and neighbors ask them if they have completed the Census and ask if you can assist them if they need help to call or get online.”
    Marilyn Stephens, completed her interview by saying,” I want people to know that the Census is safe. By law, you are protected from any of your personal information being released or used against you. We do not publish any information on individuals just aggregated data for an area”

  • Newswire : House passes tax bill raising deficit by $1.7 trillion

    Terri_Sewell,_Official_Portrait,_112th_Congress
    Congresswoman Terri Sewell

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Thursday, the House of Representatives passed Republican tax legislation, which will add $1.7 trillion to the national debt according to estimates by the Congressional Budget Office. Analysis by the Tax Policy Center shows that 36 million middle-class and working families, or more than one out of every four taxpayers nationally, will experience a tax increase under the tax bill by 2027.

    Congresswoman Terri A. Sewell (D-AL) releases the following statement:

    “The Republican tax bill which passed the House today is nothing more than a giveaway for corporate special interests at the expense of America’s working families,” said Rep. Sewell. “By eliminating popular deductions like the student loan interest deduction and the medical expense deduction and by limiting mortgage interest deductions for homeowners, this bill betrays our middle-class families. This legislation pays for unsustainable tax breaks by erasing proven economic incentives that distressed communities rely on, like the New Market Tax Credit, the historic tax credit, private activity bonds, and bond provisions that cities and municipalities rely on to fund the construction of public projects.

    Our tax code is a reflection of our values, but this legislation values special interests over the economic interests of our constituents. This will add $1.7 trillion to the deficit which is likely to result in massive cuts to programs like Medicare, SNAP, and Social Security. While today’s bill is a raw deal for Alabama’s working families, I will continue fighting for real tax reform that benefits all Americans.”

    During the markup of the Republican tax bill in the Committee on Ways and Means, Rep. Sewell offered three historically bipartisan amendments. All Democratic amendments, including the three amendments offered by Rep. Sewell, were rejected without a single Republican vote.