[Excerpt from news article by Christopher Keating, Hartford Courant, October 21, 2025]
"As the federal government shutdown reached Day 20 on Monday, state and federal officials are concerned that about 360,000 Connecticut residents could lose their food stamp benefits starting on Nov. 1.
State officials are scrambling to find a way to fill the gap if the federal government shuts off access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps. The benefits are awarded on debit cards that are replenished monthly, and those cards would be cut off to stop the benefits, officials said.
The food shutdown would have an impact on grocery stores that could lose an estimated 5 to 10% of their business as nearly 10% of all state residents currently receive food stamps, officials said. Benefits vary based on the size of a family, but the average monthly benefit per person is about $193 or around $50 per week, officials said.
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal and other officials spoke at the Grocery on Broad, a nonprofit market within walking distance of the state Capitol in Hartford.
“Over half of the folks who shop here are using SNAP benefits,” said Ben Dubow, executive director of the nonprofit that runs the Hartford store. “This will have a significant impact on the people we serve, particularly as we head into the holiday season. … It will impact us as a business. We’ve got to think through what we stock and how we manage things. It impacts farmers. It impacts suppliers, so the economic impact is huge.”
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At the same time, a nonprofit data group, DataHaven, released a report on SNAP benefits that shows problems ahead as new work requirements will be instituted under Trump’s tax-and-spending bill that is known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
“In Hartford, about 6,000 families are expected to lose $25 or more in monthly SNAP benefits, with benefit losses totaling between $1.1 million and $1.6 million each month,” the report summary said. “Bridgeport, New Haven, and Waterbury are each projected to see over 4,600 families losing $25 or more in monthly benefits, adding up to total benefit losses of between $890,000 and $1.3 million per month in each city. Impacts will reach beyond urban areas, too.”
