Courts rule and Beacon Hill scrambles as SNAP cutoff date arrives

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It’s Halloween week on Beacon Hill, and the scariest specter isn’t a ghost in the State House dome. It’s the looming SNAP cliff more than a million Bay Staters have been teetering on.

A pair of federal rulings offered a partial reprieve. In Rhode Island, U.S. District Judge John McConnell ordered the USDA to distribute federal food aid benefits using contingency funds, and if those aren’t enough, to draw on other sources. Meanwhile, in Boston, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani said the government cannot simply suspend SNAP benefits because it lacks appropriated funding. 

Talwani’s ruling came as part of a lawsuit filed by 22 state attorneys general, including Andrea Campbell. The judge wrote that the administration’s suspension of benefits "is contrary to law," stressing that the USDA is statutorily required to use previously appropriated SNAP contingency funds when necessary and retains discretion to tap other available funds.

Talwani ordered the administration to report back by Monday on whether at least partial benefits will be authorized for November.

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The one-month-and-running federal government shutdown was on track to freeze SNAP payments starting on Saturday, and until Friday’s rulings, Gov. Maura Healey had been spending much of the week assuring residents that while the state can’t replace the federal program, she’d do what she could around the edges.

That meant an advance on the $4 million the state sends to food banks every month for November, and a relief fund with the United Way that's collected $1 million in private donations.

The math doesn't need a calculator: that adds up to less than 5% of the $240 million in SNAP benefits that normally flow to Massachusetts households every month.

"Our ask to them," Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr said during an impromptu Senate debate on Thursday, "is to find from available revenues an appropriation to prevent the harm that would be caused with regard to a lapse in SNAP benefits."

Tarr and the rest of the five-member Senate Republican caucus spent the session pressing Democrats to reach into state coffers to keep food on people's tables.

"We need to provide supplemental support to ensure that no Massachusetts residents go hungry while the federal government fails to do their job," Sen. Kelly Dooner said.

The role reversal wasn’t lost on anyone in the chamber: Massachusetts Republicans — typically the ones warning against new spending and calling for tax relief — called for the state to fund SNAP, while Democrats demurred. The same party that has long championed public assistance programs found itself defending fiscal restraint, while Republicans — whose party leaders in Washington are locked in the battle that has led to the crisis — argued for state intervention. Democrats looked uneasy as their GOP colleagues staked out the moral high ground on feeding hungry families.

One issue at play is that Healey says Massachusetts won't be reimbursed for any state funds it allocates towards SNAP for November. Republicans didn't offer a solution to that issue, saying state leaders should press the Congressional delegation to ensure their spending is paid back.

Sen. Lydia Edwards was the sole Democrat to stand and advocate for state spending on SNAP during the session, proposing to expand universal school meals funding to extend help for kids who receive benefits. Later, in an interview with the New Service, Chairman of Ways and Means Sen. Michael Rodrigues also said a conference committee he chairs could revisit the issue. "Everything and anything is on the table," he said.

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On Thursday morning, as SNAP dominated headlines, Healey was in another hearing room pitching an area where she wants to unleash new spending. Her Discovery, Research and Innovation for a Vibrant Economy Act would infuse $400 million into higher education, research and biopharma development.

If the juxtaposition raised eyebrows, Healey didn’t shy away from it. On one hand, Healey is asking the private sector to donate so families can eat; on the other, she’s asking lawmakers to invest public dollars so biotech can thrive. But the DRIVE Act, she said, is about "ensuring Massachusetts doesn’t lose its edge" and giving the next generation a reason to stay here.

"This isn’t meant to be a one time Band-Aid," Healey said. "It's meant to be a stake in the ground."

Half of the DRIVE funding would come from interest generated by the state’s Stabilization Fund — the same "rainy day" pool some advocates want to tap for SNAP relief — and the other half from surtax revenue on high earners.

Healey argued that the investment is essential to Massachusetts’ long-term competitiveness.

"This will help us hold on to people, keep them from going. Because once people go, they're not coming back. And when people go, entrepreneurs, founders, companies go, along with hope for families looking for those life-saving cures," she said.

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The House spent the week focused on literacy — another topic inspiring the word "crisis" on Beacon Hill.

A reform bill cleared the House on Wednesday, aiming to overhaul how children learn to read from kindergarten through third grade. The bill would require districts to use "evidence-based" reading curricula, prohibit methods like three-cueing, and mandate twice-yearly screenings for students.

"MCAS scores among our youngest readers are falling," said Education Committee Co-chair Ken Gordon. "Between 2011 and 2024, the average fourth grade reading scores fell by 11 percentage points."

The measure has drawn bipartisan support, though critics — including the Massachusetts Teachers Association — warn it could erode local control and saddle schools with new costs. House Speaker Ron Mariano insists it’s not about micromanaging teachers but ensuring they have "the tools they need to succeed."

The House paired the literacy bill with two others that passed easily: one expanding financial literacy education in middle and high schools, and another widening eligibility for the state’s Seal of Biliteracy award. Together, these measures offered the first clear indication of the House’s education policy agenda this session.

Meanwhile, environmental concerns bubbled to the surface. As the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority weighed a staff recommendation that would enable millions of gallons of untreated sewage to continue flowing into the Charles River for decades to come, advocates with the Charles River Watershed Association are urging officials to rethink their long-term strategy for addressing combined sewer overflows. Officials must file their draft plan by the end of the year, which will be followed by a monthslong public comment period.

"MWRA is using the Charles River as sewer conveyance and treatment infrastructure due to inadequacies in the current sewer network and treatment system," association executive director Emily Norton wrote in a recent letter to the MWRA Board. "This is illegal, disgusting and not befitting of modern, world class cities such as Boston and Cambridge, nor is it befitting of a trusted, well-respected water resources authority like MWRA."

From feeding families to funding innovation, lawmakers spent the week trying to decide which kind of hunger to satisfy first.

KELLER AT LARGE: 8:30 a.m., WBZ-TV. Political analyst Jon Keller's guests are MASSterList’s own Gintautas Dumcius and Kelly Garrity of POLITICO.

@ ISSUE SIT DOWN: 9:30 a.m., NBC 10. Reporter Matt Prichard interviews the two candidates for District 7 City Council in Boston, Said Ahmed and Miniard Culpepper.

ON THE RECORD: 11 a.m., WCVB. The guest is Senate Ways and Means chair Michael Rodrigues.

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