Months after the Trump Administration announced massive cuts to federal food assistance programs and the longest government shutdown in history caused uncertainty about funding, the Maine legislature introduced a bill to stabilize the state's allocations to those programs.
LD2004 would remove the word "federal" from the statutory language in the "Fund to Address Food Security and Provide Nutrition Incentives." Doing so would allow more funding to programs beyond matching the federal government allocations.
“During the federal government shutdown, people were afraid and anxious. Not knowing if or when they would receive their SNAP benefits made them worry about putting food on the table more than they should ever have to," said Sen Ingwersen D-Arundel, who introduced the bill, in a statement. "Between this and the reduction to SNAP benefits from the Big Beautiful Bill, I knew that I had to do something.”
The bill was the subject of a public hearing in the Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Wednesday.
Michelle Webb of the state Agriculture Conservation and Forestry department testified the small change would mean protection from government shutdowns and future cuts.
"Removing the modifier 'federal' from the term 'food and nutrition assistance programs' in the existing statute makes clear that Maine can continue to make this important investment even if the nutrition benefits are not being amplified or incentivized by the federal government," Webb said.
The state's current $600,000 annual allocation fund local programs that encourage low-income families to buy healthy, local food. "Farm Fresh Rewards" are applied to purchases at grocery stores and "Maine Harvest Bucks" can be used at farmers markets and small food vendors.
"These are proven tools that benefit both customers and producers," said Courtney Kennedy, Nutrition and Education Manager at Good Sheppard Food Bank. "Updating the eligibility language ensures that the state funding continues to work as intended."
Also on the first day of the 2026 legislative session, House democrats discussed bills to mitigate the loss of federal funding to Medicaid and to nutrition assistance. One of those measures proposes an $87 million contingency fund to ensure that Maine can continue providing food assistance benefits in the event of a loss of federal funding.
Nobody in the committee chamber voiced opposition to the bill. It will go through work sessions in the Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry in the coming weeks.
