Dear Friends,

As many of you know, the ongoing federal government shutdown has created serious uncertainty for families who rely on food assistance. Earlier this week, Governor Josh Shapiro took legal action urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to release billions in Congressionally-appropriated contingency funds to continue Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for November. The USDA notified the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services that benefits must be paused effective October 16, 2025, leaving nearly two million Pennsylvanians, including more than 713,000 children and 697,000 older adults without access to more than $366 million in monthly food assistance beginning November 1st.  Forty-two million Americans nationwide will lose critical food aid.

Although the USDA maintains a $6 billion contingency reserve intended for emergencies such as this, the agency recently reversed course on using those funds and even removed related guidance from its website. My office continues to assist residents in need and connect them with local food resources while we urge federal leaders to act swiftly. For more information about these programs—whether you need food assistance or wish to donate—please see the next section of this email.

The suspension of SNAP benefits will have a profound effect not only on those who depend on them but on our broader economy. Programs like SNAP, LIHEAP, and ACA subsidies are essential lifelines that help families stay nourished, warm, and healthy. In Montgomery County, 62,781 of our neighbors rely on SNAP benefits and almost 60,000 deal with food insecurity but do not qualify for SNAP, and 33,586 of our neighbors in Montgomery County afford health insurance because of ACA subsidies.  Over 300,000 Pennsylvanians qualified for LIHEAP last year to heat their homes.

Our local food banks are facing an unprecedented challenge. Manna, a key partner in feeding our community, has reported that roughly 20% of all food donated to their programs has already been affected—or is at risk—due to federal funding cuts. With hundreds of millions of dollars in federal food assistance canceled or frozen, and the upcoming pause in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, the strain on these programs is growing by the day.

Even before the SNAP freeze, more people than ever were turning to Manna for food, essential services, and support. Aid organizations across the country are struggling to keep pace with record demand while resources continue to decline. Manna’s Kitchen now serves more than 14,000 meals each month, three times the number served just three years ago. In August, Manna set a record with 14,877 meals served, surpassing the previous month’s record. At the same time, Manna’s Market and Online Market Hub, which allow families to shop in person or order groceries online now fulfil around 1,500 grocery visits each month, twice as many as in spring 2022. In September alone, Manna served 976 households, more than at any point during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the SNAP benefit freeze on the horizon, Manna anticipates that even more families will face difficult choices between food, housing, and other essentials. Meeting this record demand is becoming increasingly challenging, and Manna is relying more than ever on community support to keep its shelves stocked and its kitchen running.

Unfortunately, a significant amount of misinformation is circulating about both the cause of the government shutdown and who qualifies for federal benefits. Reported Hatch Act violations have further muddied public understanding, making it harder for residents to discern fact from politics. Here are the facts: under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, only U.S. citizens and certain lawfully present non-citizens are eligible for SNAP; LIHEAP provides heating assistance only to citizens and lawfully present non-citizens; and ACA subsidies are available to lawfully present immigrants through the Marketplaces, with limited exceptions. These programs are tightly regulated and serve individuals who are active contributors to our communities and economy.

SNAP benefits thousands of Pennsylvanians—including seniors, children, and individuals working full-time at minimum-wage jobs. Too often, there’s a mistaken belief that people rely on assistance programs because they don’t want to work. Most SNAP recipients who can work do so, but their wages are simply too low to cover the rising costs of food, housing, and other essentials. The majority of those who are not in the workforce are children, older adults, or people living with disabilities. These programs are not about dependency, they are about dignity, stability, and ensuring that no one in our community goes hungry.

At a time of such uncertainty, our federal leaders must put politics aside and come together to deliver aid to those who need it most. Senate Republicans recently changed the Senate’s rules to bypass the traditional 60-vote threshold to advance some of President Trump’s nominees. With Speaker Mike Johnson refusing to reconvene the House, many are asking why the Senate cannot once again suspend its rules to overcome partisan gridlock. Democrats are fighting to restore critical ACA subsidies, which were stripped from the federal budget bill, to ensure that nearly 4 million Americans can continue to access affordable health insurance and ensure coverage for our most impoverished citizens.  Bipartisan bills in the House and Senate to preserve funding for SNAP have not progressed and Johnson and Thune have indicated they will not move such a bill.

If federal Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies are not renewed, the consequences for Pennsylvania families would be severe. As many as 270,000 Pennsylvanians could lose access to affordable health insurance, with a projected $1.255 billion in lost annual tax credits if the enhanced premium tax credits (EPTCs) expire. Monthly premiums for Pennie enrollees would rise by an average of 82%, with older and rural residents facing increases up to four times higher. For example, a 60-year-old married couple in York County earning $82,000 per year would see their annual premium skyrocket from $7,032 to $35,712 — nearly $29,000 more per year for the same coverage. Without Congressional action, these rising costs would force thousands of Pennsylvanians to make impossible choices between healthcare, housing, food, and other essentials.

Affordability | Pennie

While I know that the Trump administration needs to end the ACA subsidies to cover some of the costs of the tax reductions for the wealthy it was able to pass, withholding food and heating assistance as leverage to end the shutdown is inhumane. People in our communities will go hungry. They will be cold. This is a choice the federal administration is making at the cost of people’s health and safety. We are one of the world’s greatest economic powers—yet we are poised to deny food, heat, and healthcare to our most vulnerable neighbors, despite already having the funds to sustain these programs at least temporarily. Doing so to achieve a political outcome is not just shortsighted, it is morally wrong.

We must demand better. I encourage you to speak out by contacting your federal representatives and to join in advocacy efforts to protect access to food assistance, heating aid, and affordable health care—so that none of our neighbors are left without the essentials they need to live with dignity.

At the state level, I have co-sponsored legislation H.B. 2400 requiring the State Treasurer to provide funds to the Department of Human Services (DHS) during the federal budget impasse for the purpose of continuing SNAP payments so DHS can continue to provide the monthly SNAP payments that Pennsylvania families depend on to survive.

To help address this growing crisis, I am also proud to co-sponsor the House companion bill to Senator Haywood’s PA Food Bank and Hunger Relief Program. This proposal represents a compassionate and fiscally responsible response to the urgent needs facing families and food assistance organizations across our Commonwealth.

The plan would allocate $50 million from Pennsylvania’s Rainy Day Fund to help local food banks meet emergency demand in every county. It would also provide $10 million for Meals on Wheels, ensuring nutritious meals reach older adults and individuals with disabilities who are unable to access traditional food assistance. In addition, the proposal includes targeted funding for the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture to cover administrative and coordination costs necessary to effectively implement and monitor the program statewide.  This is a common-sense step to make sure that no Pennsylvanian — child, parent, or older adult — goes hungry because of federal inaction.

As the federal budget impasse continues, the Trump administration has made clear that it will not reimburse states for any funds used to feed residents during this period. Like the decision to refuse to use the $6 billion USDA reserve fund to preserve food aid, this is an explicit choice by the administration to harm the most vulnerable among us. This refusal leaves communities across the nation to bear the burden of hunger on their own. In Pennsylvania, we face a stark choice: either allow people to go hungry or find a way to cover the cost ourselves, knowing we will not be reimbursed.

It is unconscionable to allow political gamesmanship to determine who eats and who goes hungry. Pennsylvania has both the resources and the responsibility to respond—and our Rainy-Day Fund was created for moments exactly like this. When families are struggling, seniors are skipping meals, and children are going to bed hungry, doing nothing is not an option. Using these funds to keep people fed is not only reasonable and fiscally sound—it is a moral imperative. In the absence of federal leadership, Pennsylvania must step forward with compassion, courage, and common sense.

While we’ve seen a failure of leadership at the federal level to ensure Pennsylvanians have enough to eat, our state and local leaders are stepping up to fill the gap. Today, I joined Montgomery County Commissioners Jamila Winder and Neil Makhija at a press conference announcing new county funding for local food banks, ensuring that residents do not lose access to food during this crisis.

At the state level, Governor Josh Shapiro has declared a disaster emergency and announced $5 million in state funding for Feeding Pennsylvania, which partners with food pantries in every county to meet the growing need. Feeding Pennsylvania is the statewide association of the state’s nine Feeding America partner food banks, supporting hunger relief efforts, policy advocacy, and resource coordination. Its member food banks serve over 1.5 million people annually, distributing 237 million pounds of food, roughly 197.5 million meals—through more than 2,700 agencies across all 67 counties. Currently, eight of the nine food banks are using reserve funds to purchase additional food, and all have seen a 100 percent increase in visits to their “Find Help” pages. They are preparing for a projected 20 percent increase in demand in November.

This declaration will expedite the delivery of funds to organizations on the front lines of hunger relief. Under a recent constitutional amendment, the General Assembly must vote to extend any emergency declaration beyond 21 days, and I am committed to supporting that extension to ensure that no Pennsylvanian goes hungry.

On a personal note, as I was putting my child to bed before working on this week’s email, I couldn’t stop thinking about parents across our Commonwealth who, in the days and weeks ahead, may be putting their own children to bed hungry. As a human being, a mother, and an elected official, I cannot reconcile how this administration can allow 42 million Americans to face hunger while $6 billion in reserve SNAP funding goes unused, with what I know of this country and its people. It is cruel, un-American, and shameful and not who we are. We are the most resource-rich nation in the world, yet people are left to starve. It is heart-wrenching, indefensible, and utterly at odds with who we claim to be as a country.

If you need help, or want to help our neighbors, please find more information below.

Food resources in our area:

Manna on Main Street, 606 Main St, Lansdale, 215-855-5454 

Mattie N. Dixon Community Cupboard, 150 N. Main St Ambler, 215-628-3002

Garden of Health, 201 Church Road, North Wales 267-905-9569

Bethlehem Baptist Church, 712 Penllyn Pike, Spring House, 215-643-4977

Shepherd’s Shelf, 2211 Mainland Road, Harleysville, 215-256-8738

If the above resources do not meet your needs, please call my office at 610-277-3230 or click the links below for expanded resources. You are not alone; we are here to help you!

211.org

PA Navigate

SHARE FOOD PROGRAM

MONTCO ANTI_HUNGER NETWORK

If you are able to assist, my office is accepting non-perishable food donations on behalf of Mattie N. Dixon Community Cupboard, Inc.

While applications for LIHEAP will be available on Tuesday, November 4, 2025, Pennsylvania must delay the opening of the 2025-26 Low-income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) season by one month, until December 3, 2025, due to the federal government shutdown. The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) has not yet received its federal allocation for 2025-2026 LIHEAP funds. DHS will continue to accept and review pre-season applications to prepare for processing but cannot approve or fund applications until a federal budget is approved and funding is released. For a list of heating resources, please dial 211 or contact my office at 610-277-3230.

Our office has been receiving an increase in calls regarding the upcoming 2025 Municipal Elections, while we are unable to discuss election related topics or assist in the completion of voter registration forms, we can assist by providing voter registration forms, mail in ballot applications and many more! If you have any questions related to the upcoming election we encourage you to first contact Montgomery County Voter Services directly at 610-278-3280, if you continue to have issues, please contact our office and we will work to connect you with Voter Services.

My mobile office will be at the Towamencin Township building on Thursday, November 6, 2025, from 1-2 PM. We can assist with any and all state services, process Senior SEPTA passes, and so much more! Please stop by to learn how my office can best serve you!

I am pleased to announce I'll be co-hosting a FREE Electronics Recycling Event with Rep. Matt Bradford  at Montgomery County Community College on Saturday, November 22 from 9:00-11:00 AM.

Recycle your small appliances, printers, laptops, phones, miscellaneous wires and almost any other electronic with a plug. **Please note NO TELEVISIONS, MONITORS or items with FREON**

Best,

Pennsylvania State Capitol
121 Irvis Office Building

P.O. Box 202061
Harrisburg, PA 17120

(717) 783-4102

District Office

1098 West Skippack Pike

Blue Bell, PA 19422

(610) 277-3230