Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick

Under the plan announced by Gov. Deval Patrick, the state will provide at least $20 in heating assistance to about 163,000 eligible families, which in turn will make those families eligible for an additional $80 a month in Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program — formerly known as Food Stamps. Administration officials said the move would prevent a loss of $142 million in SNAP benefits. [...] The Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development, which administers the federal Low Income Heating Assistance Program will use federal funding to provide the $3 million needed to increase the benefit, according to a spokesman for the agency.

Add Massachusetts to the list of states House Speaker John Boehner thinks are cheating because they're following the law as they move to block food stamp cuts. Massachusetts follows a series of states in acting entirely within the new law to thwart the congressional Republican push to cut nutrition assistance:Such state actions, which have also been announced in New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Montana, mean that a significant percentage of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program cuts recently passed by Congress have been blocked. That said:

If you live in one of the eight remaining states where low-income Americans are still facing the threat of food stamp cuts—California, Delaware, Maine, Michigan, New Jersey, Vermont, Washington, or Wisconsin—then click here to sign and send a petition directly to your governor, urging him to take the appropriate action to restore food stamp funding.