AMHERST — Against a backdrop in which the federal government is reducing its support for Massachusetts, such as pulling funding for the 1.1 million residents who depend on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, members of the region’s legislative delegation are aiming to counter the growing losses.
At the annual legislative breakfast, put on by the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce at the Inn on Boltwood Friday morning, state Rep Mindy Domb, D-Amherst, said there is a need to replenish the help the state offers, even as Gov. Maura Healey is pledging $4 million more to fund food banks.
“We have the active piece of coming together and creating a safety net for all of us, and making sure it is there,” Domb said.
While Domb is also focused on countering an executive order that is attempting to criminalize harm reduction, she said legislators can’t lose sight of the immediate concern for constituents.
“The food crisis is right in front of us,” Domb said. “It’s tomorrow.”
With one-third of the state’s budget derived from federal spending, state Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, said legislators need to know where it is most important to spend and invest the money that remains.
The delegation, she said, is already doing its best to mitigate harms through both proactive and reactive measures to federal actions.
Rep. Aaron Saunders, D-Ludlow, said while a shared resiliency is necessary, making sure children are fed and seniors are getting their meals, the entire situation is troubling.
“We’re now tasked with putting the puzzle together with most of those pieces missing,” Saunders said. “It’s going to lay bare the problems with how we’ve done it so far.”
But Saunders praised Domb and Comerford for co-chairing the Food Systems Legislative Caucus, which sent a letter to the White House urging that SNAP, as a critical program, remain intact.
“We have the absolutely best leading us in the Legislature,” Saunders said.
Rep. Homar Gomez, D-Easthampton, said Washington is failing Massachusetts residents on many fronts.
“The federal government has a commitment to the people, and they’re not doing it,” Gomez said.
Gomez said he worries people who will be heading to survival centers and meal sites face a stigma, an understanding from his own family’s experience with food stamps. “I know how it is, I do, it is painful,” he said.
On top of that, Gomez said he is concerned these locations will be targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Sen. Jacob Oliveira, D-Ludlow, said that challenges are exacerbated by dysfunction in Washington and that Massachusetts has been targeted because of its excellent education, health care and women’s rights.
“It’s no surprise that there have been attacks by the federal government, because it’s threatened by what Massachusetts delivers to the nation,” Oliveira said.
During the 90-minute discussion, moderated by Chamber Executive Director Jacob Robinson, other impacts were noted, such as diminishing the federal partnership for building west-east rail.
While this may be slowed down, Domb said she will continue to endorse any project that can get people from western Massachusetts to the Boston area via high-speed rail.
“I want the one that starts first,” Domb said.
“We’re really trying to look at all kinds of transit,” Domb said. “A whole system of transit is what we need out here.”
Comerford agreed that momentum in rail has stalled because of the lack of federal will, and that other investments in the region may also need to come from the state.
“We legislators have to be creative, we have to be supportive, we have to be present, that’s the only way happening today,” Gomez said. “Small businesses are the engine of the community.”
Robinson said the business community and nonprofits are facing challenges, but struck a tone of optimism.
“There are tremendous opportunities to invest in innovation and sustainability and the systems that make the region thrive,” Robinson said.
Domb said a way to grow tourism is to get more leaders in Boston to pay attention to what the Amherst area offers, which means getting them to visit and then travel beyond the University of Massachusetts campus.
“Businesses thrive when they have consumers, and tourism is a big part of that,” Domb said. “We need to brag about (and) boast about it.”
Oliveira said he is prioritizing changes to unemployment insurance to make sure small businesses aren’t put at a disadvantage, especially in a time when they could be laying people off.
Saunders said legislators are taking a look at all costs related to energy use, seeing if there are areas to cut expenses. Oliveira pointed to the pause on the 17% rate hike request by the utilities, and that there may be ways to move away from Eversource and National Grid as suppliers to municipal light plant models that contain costs.
Comerford said the state’s Municipal Empowerment Act helps businesses remove unnecessary burdens, but there is a need to get more housing, more health affordability and more primary care.
Housing affordability is also critical to the economy, she said. “We must build our population and our economic base,” Comerford said
Comerford said a housing bill has been adapted to bring more money to Hampshire County to develop affordable housing, but the idea of imposing real estate transfer fees to create revenue for similar developments hasn’t moved forward.
“If you care about this … we need this advocacy from our business community,” Comerford said.
Saunders said he and Comerford are both appealing for equity for the communities around the Quabbin Reservoir, where development has been limited to protect the Boston water supply.
Because the possible food insecurity is the most immediate concern, Jeremy Brown, a representative from the Hampshire Hospitality Group, suggested that people find ways to offer more support for United Way and Safe Passage and entities such as the Amherst Survival Center and Helping Hands in Belchertown.
“I implore you all to give,” Brown said. “Give as if someone’s life depends on it, because it probably does.”
Arthur Haskins, who chairs the chamber’s Committee on Government Affairs and Policy Advocacy, said collaboration is an act of civic strength and that a healthy community and a healthy economy go hand-in-hand.