Beacon Hill Budgeting Harms Food Assistance Recipients

Early in the budget process, Gov. Maura Healey proposed spending $25 million on the program. Massachusetts Health Incentive Programin fiscal year 2025—about the amount the program needs to operate for the entire year.

But the final budget agreed to by the House and Senate included only $15 million.

It’s one of the most common tools in Beacon Hill’s budget arsenal: underfund necessary or popular spending to balance the annual state budget, then restore the money later through a supplemental budget bill.

But sometimes budget tricks come back to bite real people. This appears to be exactly what happened with HIP.

Because funding for the fiscal year, which ends in June, will run out around March, the Healey administration decided to cut payments starting in December.

Today, one- or two-person families receiving SNAP benefits can spend up to $40 a month on fruits and vegetables at local farmers’ markets, farm stands, mobile markets, or CSA farm shares. If the farmer is enrolled in HIP, this money is returned to the family’s electronic benefit card. The maximum increases to $60 or $80 depending on family size.

Department of Transition Assistance Commissioner Jeff McCue announced last month that HIP would cut the benefit to $20 a month regardless of family size. “We are restructuring the program to ensure it can continue to operate year-round at current funding levels,” McCue said.

As a result, Smith said she is considering eliminating home delivery and worries about a drop in sales.

The administration accuses lawmakers of under-reporting funding. But lawmakers who support the program are unhappy that the administration made the cuts without first asking for additional budgetary allocations.

Rep. Hannah Kane, a Shrewsbury Republican, and Sen. Jo Comerford, a Northampton Democrat who co-chairs the Legislature’s food system caucus, told the editorial board that the Legislature has a long history of prioritizing HIP and they hope lawmakers will pass additional funding . . Comerford said the cuts “came as a surprise.” “Personally, I would like to see the administration not make a public announcement without talking to the Legislature,” Comerford said. Caine said House budget writers are currently meeting with the administration to figure out how much more money is needed to fully fund HIP.

Of course, if lawmakers had fully funded the program from the start, as Healey requested, the additional budget would not have been necessary.

This is not the first time the HIP has changed during the implementation phase. HIP launched in April 2017 and was suspended in April 2018 when the program reached its $1.25 million budget limit. It resumed a month later with additional budgetary allocations. There were additional pauses in 2018, 2019 and 2020, usually during the winter when there are fewer farmers’ markets. Funding for the program comes annually from money from the annual budget, supplemental budget bills, carryovers from previous years, and federal pandemic funding.

The problem, however, is that people rely on this money, and farmers grow crops in anticipation of business. As of September 2024, according to state newsletterIn FY 2025, 180,000 households received HIP benefits and made 311,000 transactions in FY 2025. More than half of these households have members over 60 years of age, and one third have people with disabilities. There are more than 672 locations where can you use HIP, and almost 300 farmers participating.

Even in December, when many farmers markets are closed for the winter, HIP vendors are expected to offer five CSA programs, 38 farmers markets, 12 mobile markets with 109 stops and 66 farm stands, according to the data. government data compiled by advocates for the Massachusetts food system.

Gary Wilkins, owner of Riverdale Farm in Groton, said participating in HIP has allowed his farm to expand from 75 acres to 150 acres. He sells at farmers’ markets in Boston, Lawrence, Lynn and other urban areas, where 90 percent of buyers use HIP. “If they’re going to buy half as much, I’m going to sell half as much. My concern is whether $20 is enough for (customers) to get into the market,” Wilkins said. He is considering laying off employees if the reduction occurs.

Of course, residents can still purchase groceries from local grocery stores. But HIP offers low-income recipients the opportunity to double their spending while purchasing fresh produce and supporting local farmers. Study Massachusetts programs found that HIP participants purchased an average of 1.23 daily servings of fruits and vegetables per person, and every dollar invested in HIP generated an additional $2 in local economic activity.

Food prices have risen in recent years. A program that helps families buy healthy food while boosting local agriculture deserves support—with consistent and predictable funding.

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