Lawmakers call for more than 10x boost to food bank funding in CT
Amanda McCard / CT Mirror
Sen. Eric Berthel, R-Watertown, gives Jason Jakubowski, president and CEO of Connecticut Foodshare, a pat on the back during a press conference January 29, 2025. Lawmakers and advocates called for $10 million in state funding for food assistance in CT.
A bipartisan group of Connecticut lawmakers have formed a caucus to address hunger in the state, and the group is proposing legislation that would direct $10 million to support statewide food banks.
Rep. Eleni Kavros DeGraw, D-Avon, and Sen. Eric Berthel, R-Watertown, introduced the Feeding Connecticut caucus and its first bill, H.B. 5831, at a press conference Wednesday morning. The bill, if passed, would mark a significant increase in funding to the Connecticut Nutrition Assistance Program, which currently receives $850,000 per year from the state.
“When you think about how many people are truly in need, and there may be more so in the very near future, we want to make sure that we are providing as much as we can,” Kavros DeGraw said.
One in eight Connecticut residents are “food insecure,” meaning they don’t know where their next meal will come from. That includes one out of every six children, according to hunger-relief organization Feeding America.
But state funding for Connecticut’s Nutrition Assistance Program is scant compared to nearby states. Connecticut Foodshare president and CEO Jason Jakubowski said at the press conference that New York and Massachusetts each spend over $30 million annually on their food assistance programs. Connecticut’s relative lack of funding, he said, is clear to anyone familiar with food bank operations.
“You talk to people that are running food pantries right now, what they will tell you is there’s more and more people than ever coming, and the amount of food is staying the same,” Jakubowski said.
Berthel, who represents parts of the state that were hit hard by flooding last August, recounted how the local food pantry helped his community after the storms. “We had historic and catastrophic flooding in that part of Connecticut. We lost millions, tens of millions of dollars’ worth of infrastructure,” he said.
Berthel said when he volunteered at the food pantry, he was moved by the immense amount of need the disaster created. At one point, he said he saw more than 300 people waiting in line for food in the parking lot. “It really struck a chord with me,” he said.
One speaker at Wednesday’s event described experiencing food insecurity firsthand. Paula Melien related how her husband was laid off, leaving their young couple struggling to make ends meet for their family despite having planned and budgeted for the job loss — and holding three college degrees between the two of them. “Nothing can prepare you for the uncertainty of this happening to you,” she said.
Melien is now an ambassador for the Connecticut Foodshare Neighbor Council, a group of individuals who have received food assistance and now promote policy changes to support it. The support she received from Connecticut food banks inspired her to become an advocate, she said.
“I will tell you that if you are faced with this, there is a charitable food system in Connecticut that will have your back. Please have their backs,” Melien said.
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