As of Saturday afternoon full SNAP benefits for November have been loaded onto the EBT cards of Connecticut SNAP recipients, according to the office of Gov. Ned Lamont.
According to Lamont’s office, about 65% of the funding is from the federal government and the remainder is state funding authorized by Lamont. Connecticut SNAP recipients should have access to the full funding they would have normally received for the month, according to a statement.
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“I’m pleased to share the news that as of this afternoon, all SNAP recipients in Connecticut have access to full November funding on their EBT cards,” Lamont said, in the statement. “Families in need of food assistance never should have been used as political pawns by the Trump administration. While I wish the federal government would have honored its obligation to provide full funding, Connecticut is stepping up and ensuring that recipients receive their full benefits for the month.”
The Connecticut Department of Social Services oversees the administration of SNAP in the state, according to the governor’s office.
“Food security is a basic human right, and no one should have to worry about critical benefits that are essential to a good quality of life,” DSS Commissioner Andrea Barton Reeves said, i the statement. “By making SNAP benefits available today, we have shown those in Washington that leadership means putting our residents’ needs first. Connecticut residents will always step up to help their neighbors.”
The statement noted SNAP recipients don’t need to take action as benefits were automatically loaded onto EBT cards and are available for use at grocery stores and other authorized retailers in Connecticut.
Lamont initially allocated $3 million to Foodshare to help supply food banks around the state with food to distribute to recipients who had run out of SNAP money. The total cost of the program for a month in Connecticut is $72 million and legislators criticized the governor for not doing more. Lamont later said he had with lawmakers agreed to put aside $500 million to address federal cuts, potentially including SNAP funding.
When asked what changed to inspire the move to fully fund the program, Lamont said, “The constant back and forth. I thought we were going to have it fully funded three days ago. I thought the courts said you were going to get partial funding. They can’t make up their mind. We made up our mind. We’re going to take care of the people on SNAP.”
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The money will come from Connecticut’s large surplus, generated by the state collecting more income taxes than expected from capital gains when the stock market soars. State Comptroller Sean Scanlon on Nov. 3 said fiscal year 2025 yielded $1.9 billion in surplus and he anticipated a General Fund surplus of $322.3 million and a Special Transportation Fund surplus of $14 million for 2026. In addition, the state has a rainy day fund of $4.3 billion that can be used in fiscal emergencies. Lamont says that Connecticut is better positioned than many other states, based on the size of the rainy day fund.
More than 360,000 people in Connecticut rely on SNAP, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, to put food on the table, including 120,000 children. Funding for the program was not renewed Nov. 1 due to the federal government shutdown. Since then, food pantries have been struggling to meet the need.
To check the balance amounts on EBT cards, visit MyDSS.ct.gov or call 1-888-328-2666.