Lawmakers and councilors approve plan to fund mobile food pantries as SNAP set to pause

Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Lori Weaver (standing, right) addresses questions from Executive Councilor Joe Kenney (left) about a plan to use $2 million in state Medicaid Enhancement Tax revenues to fund food banks in response to a lapse in SNAP funding during the federal government shutdown, on Oct. 29, 2025. (Ethan DeWitt | New Hampshire Bulletin)

With Congress showing no signs of resolving its stalemate and ending the ongoing federal government shutdown, those waiting on government food assistance are facing a halt to benefits Saturday. In New Hampshire, state officials have approved a plan to fill the gap, at least partially.

If the shutdown doesn’t end this week, New Hampshire residents in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program won’t receive their November benefits. To alleviate that loss, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services is reallocating $2 million from the Medicaid Enhancement Tax to fund food assistance and partnering with the New Hampshire Food Bank to create a series of mobile food pantries throughout the state. The plan will pay the food bank to operate up to 20 locations twice a week for the next five weeks, just for SNAP recipients. The contract with the food bank lasts until Dec. 5 or whenever the shutdown ends, but the state has the option to extend it by one week eight times should the shutdown continue. The mobile pantries would be in addition to the ones the food bank already operates, officials said.

“This is a Band-Aid,” Health and Human Services Commissioner Lori Weaver told lawmakers Tuesday. “We recognize that it falls short of what they typically would get.”

The $2 million plan pales in comparison to the $12.6 million the federal government typically gives New Hampshire for SNAP monthly. Weaver said it was too difficult to find that money in her department’s budget, particularly after back-of-the-budget cuts made by the Legislature earlier this year.

The plan was approved by the Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee Tuesday and the Executive Council Wednesday.

More from this section

Movies and TV shows casting in Portsmouth

41.5% of New New Hampshire Homes Are Multi-Family, Above U.S. Average

Gov. Kelly Ayotte also acknowledged the underwhelming nature of the plan.

“This is a temporary solution,” she said. “I want those in Washington to get this done and to get the government open, get these benefits back in place for people who need them. And so we’re just doing our part to say, ‘We’re not going to just let Washington say that nothing’s going to happen here.’ We want to get some more food in the community and work together to make sure that people don’t go hungry.”

Around 75,000 people are enrolled in SNAP in New Hampshire, per DHHS. About 47,000 of those are adults and 25,000 are children. To find mobile pantry locations, people can visit nhfoodbank.org online. State officials said more information will also be on dhhs.nh.gov.

The federal government shutdown began Oct. 1, when Congress failed to pass a spending plan to fund the government. Senate Democrats have refused to vote for any plan that doesn’t extend a series of Affordable Care Act tax credits Americans use to purchase health insurance, while Republicans say they won’t negotiate on the tax credits until the government reopens.

Weaver told the Bulletin the state has had trouble communicating with federal officials at the Food and Nutrition Service and Department of Agriculture. She said many of their typical contacts have been furloughed amid the shutdown.

Weaver said it should be “an all hands on deck” effort to help hungry families.

“We’re doing our part to be able to increase the access and the supply,” she said. “But it also takes a community, right? So get with your local communities, get with your food pantries, get with your neighbors, get in the schools.”