Gov. Ned Lamont recently announced a one-time $300 grocery benefit for individuals who are losing eligibility for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) as a result of H.R. 1, the Congressional reconciliation bill passed last July, also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). Funding for the program is the latest disbursement from the $500 million Federal Cuts Response Fund, the emergency fund that the state legislature voted to make permanent on the first day of the 2026 session.

The $300 benefit, which Department of Social Services (DSS) Commissioner Andrea Barton Reeves said at a June 3 press conference would be distributed in August, is the state’s attempt to help an estimated 25,000 state residents who will lose SNAP eligibility due to work requirements implemented as part of the OBBBA. The law raised the age of able-bodied adults without dependents who are subject to work requirements in order to receive SNAP benefits from 55 to 64, and also lowered the age for work requirements for adults with dependents from over 18 to over 14. It also changed states’ ability to waive the work requirements for individuals who live in areas with high unemployment or where there are limited job opportunities.

Barton Reeves said the state estimates the changes will affect approximately 25,000 people, largely in the category of able-bodied adults without dependents. DSS officials previously estimated changes to SNAP eligibility in the OBBBA would cause approximately 36,000 people to lose benefits. However, DSS has revised that number down because it has been able to move a portion of that population into other exemption categories.

The agency believes the number of people who don’t fit into any categories of exemption is approximately 25,000 and is slated to receive the one-time $300 grocery benefit. Lamont released $8.5 million from the emergency fund for the one-time benefit.

The fund will not be loaded onto existing Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards. Barton Reeves said DSS is exploring a platform that will essentially load benefits onto an app and will use the existing SNAP grocery network. According to Barton Reeves, some of DSS’ community partners, including the United Way, use a similar system. She added that the platform would be of benefit because it would mirror some of the ways SNAP works and also create categories in which spending can occur, preventing the benefit from being used for expenses other than groceries.

Distribution of the cards will also involve the state’s community action agencies.

At the June 3 press conference, both Barton Reeves and Lamont discussed the program as part of ongoing discussions about how the state should respond to changes to federal programs made through the OBBBA and other actions taken by President Donald Trump’s administration.

Lamont said that if the state finds the one-time $300 supplemental payment is not enough, he would “get back together with the legislature to find a more permanent solution.” Asked to provide more details about what that solution might look like, Lamont did not share any details. Instead, Lamont said the state would focus on making sure everyone who is eligible for SNAP takes “full advantage” of the program because “it’s paid for by the federal government.” The OBBBA also shifted costs for SNAP funding so that states are paying for a portion of benefits.

Barton Reeves indicated that addressing the changes to the work eligibility requirements has been a long-running discussion, but that the state saw signs of a “crisis” happening over the summer and knew they needed to act sooner rather than later.

This is the fourth time Lamont has released money from the federal emergency fund. The original fund, created so that Lamont would have flexibility to quickly release funds in response to federal changes while the legislature was adjourned, contained $500 million and was set to expire when the legislature reconvened in 2026.

However, on the first day of the session, Democratic legislators pushed through a controversial emergency bill to make the emergency fund, which then contained roughly $330.8 million, permanent. The law also transferred an additional $50 million into the fund.

Lamont last used the fund on May 15, allocating roughly $104 million in funding to address shortfalls in a variety of areas. That funding included $22.5 million for the dairy industry and $3.3 million in funding for DSS to create 50 positions to help the department implement the changes in the OBBBA.

Following the funding allocation for the grocery benefit, roughly $268 million remains in the fund.

Barton Reeves said at the June 3 press conference that hiring for the 50 positions funded by the previous disbursement from the emergency fund is active and that the first pool of new hires would start within the next few weeks.

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