Vermont Food Security Coalition asks Legislature for multimillion-dollar slate to shore up SNAP, childcare meals and farm supports

The Vermont Food Security Coalition laid out a multi-part 2026 policy slate to the legislative committee, asking the state to shore up food assistance administration, expand navigator capacity for benefits enrollment, and boost grants and funds for child nutrition and farm resilience.

“Food security for everyone in Vermont is the destination that we're focused on as a coalition,” said Becca Warren, manager of the Vermont Food Security Coalition, during a presentation that outlined the group’s Roadmap to 2035 and a set of budget requests for the coming fiscal year.

Why it matters: presenters warned that a recent federal budget reconciliation change they referred to as HR1 reduces federal administrative support for SNAP (3SquaresVT), shifting the federal/state administrative split from roughly 50/50 to 25/75. To prevent disruption in enrollment and preserve Vermont’s low payment error rate, the coalition recommended an immediate state appropriation of $6,300,000 for SNAP administration for the coming fiscal year and planning for $8,400,000 in fiscal 2027 when federal and state fiscal calendars align.

The coalition also requested $5,750,000 to expand capacity for trained benefit assisters who would help…