Senator Hassan Visits New Hampshire Non-Profits to Discuss How Government Shutdown is Impacting Services for Granite Staters

Senator Hassan meets with representatives of New Hampshire non-profits to discuss how the government shutdown is impacting services for Granite Staters.

NASHUA – Senator Maggie Hassan today met with representatives of New Hampshire non-profits to understand how their services would be impacted if President Trump’s senseless government shutdown continues. The Senator visited the Nashua Soup Kitchen as well as the Community Action Partnership (CAP) of Strafford County in Dover, which helps provide food, education, and child care services. Programs such as The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), a USDA program that provides food to shelters, food pantries, and local organizations, are being impacted by the shutdown. 

The Nashua Soup Kitchen, CAP of Strafford County, and other local organizations are also concerned that they would see their services and resources strained if programs that Granite Staters rely on – such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) – run out of funding, leading those impacted to turn to soup kitchens and food pantries for help. Additionally, as federal workers continue to go without pay, many may turn to non-profit organizations such as the Nashua Soup Kitchen and CAP of Strafford County to help them with essential needs, putting a further strain on the services and resources of the organizations.

“These organizations do vital work to ensure that our most vulnerable citizens – including children – have shelter, food, and support,” Senator Hassan said. “Unfortunately, if the government shutdown drags on, the services these organizations provide – along with the services of countless other organizations across New Hampshire – will be affected and hard-working Granite Staters will bear the brunt. It is long past time for the Republicans in Washington and President Trump to recognize that this politically motivated shutdown is hurting people in New Hampshire and across the country, and work with Democrats to re-open the government as quickly as possible.”

Senator Hassan joined her colleagues in December in voting for a bill that would have funded the government, and that President Trump threatened to veto only after it was passed. Since then, she has called on the Senate leader to bring a funding bill forward for a vote and supported legislation to protect Granite Staters and Americans from the impacts of the shutdown. She helped introduce legislation, which is now on its way to the President’s desk for signature, that would ensure that any furloughed government employee from this shutdown or any future ones will be paid retroactively as soon as appropriations are restored, and also cosponsored a bill that would fund Coast Guard operations during lapses in appropriations – including pay for members of the Coast Guard (including reserve components), pay for Coast Guard retirees, pay for Coast Guard civilian employees, and pay for Coast Guard contractors. Senator Hassan also joined in introducing the Federal Employee Civil Relief Act, which would protect federal workers and their families from foreclosures, evictions, and loan defaults during a government shutdown.

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