Media Coverage

Ohio House Democrats have introduced a bill that would use the state’s Rainy Day Fund in the event that a federal government shutdown causes gaps in food assistance programs.

“All these programs provide essential benefits for Ohioans, and we just can not afford to lose them, whatever happens in DC,” state Rep. Adam Miller, D-Columbus, told the Ohio House Families and Aging Committee on Tuesday.

House Bill 288 would use whatever funds are needed from the Budget Stabilization Fund (the official name for the Rainy Day Fund) to shore up the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), in the event of a government shutdown caused by the failure of U.S. Congress to pass a spending bill on time.

Ohio’s network of food pantries served more visitors at its emergency food pantries than at any time in its history, according to Joree Novotny, the executive director of the Ohio Association of Foodbanks.

From October through December 2023, Ohio food banks served more than 3.8 million food pantry visitors, 30% of which were children, according to Novotny.

By comparison, during the same quarter in 2022, Ohio’s food banks served 3.1 million food pantry visitors. Food pantries in Ohio have never broken 3 million visitors in one quarter.

According to the U.S. Census, hunger in Ohio is above the national average. Ohio sits at 11.5% while the U.S. average is 10.4%.

Hundreds of Family Dollar stores are expected to close this year, including at least one in Dayton, and hundreds more could close in the next several years. Ohio is home to more than 400 Family Dollars, including 25 locations in Montgomery County, and some customers say they’d hate to see their local stores shut down.

Customers who shop there and at other Family Dollar locations in Dayton say they sell things they like to eat, such as canned goods, frozen foods, cereals, breads and TV dinners.

Research shows that food is one of the most commonly purchased items at dollar chain stores, but these stores usually do not offer a wide array of fresh fruits and vegetables, lean proteins and other items that contribute to a healthy, wholesome diet, said Joree Novotny, executive director of the Ohio Association of Foodbanks. Dollar stores in some communities pushed out grocery stores that sold a wider variety of fresh, wholesome and higher quality foods but that operated on very thin margins, Novotny said.

One year after emergency SNAP benefits ended, Ohio food banks said they are struggling with increased grocery costs and record-high numbers of families turning to food pantries for help. Since the start of the pandemic, households had been receiving on average $90 more per person, per month in SNAP benefits.

Joree Novotny, executive director of the Ohio Association of Foodbanks, explained Ohioans lost $126 million between this March and last, when the expanded benefits expired. She emphasized food banks now are overwhelmed trying to meet the needs of families facing pressure from inflation, resumed student loan payments and higher costs for utilities and rent. “They have been turning to us, for month over month, for more than a year, at a level that we’ve never experienced before,” Novotny reported. “That is very difficult for us to continue to sustain.”

Families across the region continue to face a very real threat to their financial and food insecurities — inflation.

The rise in grocery prices, combined with pandemic-related benefits ending, is a major factor in why demand for Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank services reached an all-time high in 2023. More than 3 million visits were made to the network, and there was a 31% increase in people visiting food pantries alone.

It was revealed at its 33rd annual Harvest for Hunger campaign kickoff Friday at the John S. Knight Center that the organization distributed 34.9 million pounds of food last year.

That ongoing need is reflected in this year’s campaign goal, which is to provide the equivalent of 4.2 million meals for the communities served within the food bank’s eight-county service area.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- While pandemic-era enhancements to anti-poverty programs have largely expired, one temporary program expansion, set to be permanent, is now at risk of its first funding shortfall in generations. Due to ongoing food inflation and higher-than-expected enrollment, immediate additional investment by Congress in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) is required to keep the program solvent. Without action, WIC is facing a $1 billion shortfall that will adversely impact our state’s most vulnerable families. The longer Congress delays fully funding WIC, the greater the risk that the program will have to absorb substantial cuts.