Speaker Coughlin on New Jersey Joining Multi-State Lawsuit Challenging Trump Administration’s SNAP Policy

(TRENTON) – In response to New Jersey joining 13 other states, New York City and Washington, D.C. in legal action against the U.S. Department of Agriculture over changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that could cause around 12,000 New Jersey residents to lose their food assistance, Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-Middlesex) released the following statement:

“Once again, we find ourselves opposing a needless policy change that would leave thousands of New Jersey residents – and many more people throughout the country – without the assistance they need to put food on their tables.

“I applaud New Jersey Attorney General Grewal for taking the positive step of participating in this lawsuit on behalf of our most vulnerable residents.

“This policy makes it incredibly difficult for our state to provide more than three months of SNAP benefits to certain adults working under 20 hours per week. Officials in the U.S. Department of Agriculture have said this will encourage more people to re-enter the workforce, but what they have not taken into account are the many complicated factors that have caused recipients to need assistance in the first place.

“Allowing people to go hungry in an effort to motivate them is simply cruel. Trying to increase our country’s workforce cannot come at the expense of the wellbeing of our citizens. This policy is misguided and downright harmful to Americans.”