In late January, a bipartisan group of legislators introduced a pair of bills in the Rhode Island House of Representatives and Senate that would appropriate $3 million in funding for the Rhode Island Food Bank next fiscal year.
The bill comes following a steep increase in reliance on food assistance across the state. A record-high of over 102,000 Rhode Island residents received assistance from a local food pantry in November 2025 amid the longest federal government shutdown in history. This marks a 35% increase compared to November 2020.
R.I. Food Bank CEO Melissa Cherney wrote in an email to The Herald that the appropriated funds would be used “exclusively to buy food” and would cover the costs for “about three million pounds of food.”
In fiscal year 2025, the R.I. Food Bank raised slightly over $34 million and distributed 18.5 million pounds of food. About $1 million of that sum came from government grants and contracts.
Food donations have historically accounted for the majority of the R.I. Food Bank’s supply, Cherney wrote. But now, those donations constitute less than one-third of the organization’s inventory.
“We need to make up that difference,” Cherney wrote.
State Sen. Tiara Mack ’16 (D-Providence) — the bill’s lead sponsor in the Senate — wrote that the legislature appropriated $1 million for the R.I. Food Bank last year but are hoping to triple the amount this year as a response to “increased need caused by the Trump Administration’s cruelty” in an email to The Herald.
Mack wrote that President Trump’s “Big Ugly Billionaire Handout Bill” — referring to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — has “removed millions of Americans, and thousands of Rhode Islanders from (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) eligibility.”
One third of households in the state are currently facing food insecurity, according to the bills.
“The food bank is now a lifeline for an alarming amount of Rhode Islanders,” she wrote.
The White House did not respond to The Herald’s requests for comment.
State Sen. Jonathon Acosta ’11 MA’16 MA’19 PhD’24.5 (D-Central Falls, Pawtucket) and state Rep. Enrique Sanchez (D-Providence) — cosponsors of the bill in their respective chambers — have both seen constituents struggling to put food on the table..
“Last fall’s SNAP disruption exposed the economic precarity of many households in our state,” Acosta wrote in an email to The Herald. “Providing more resources to the food bank helps them help our neediest Rhode Islanders.”
“People are struggling to buy groceries,” Sanchez told The Herald. “Things are not good right now.”
According to Sanchez, legislators landed on the dollar total after discussions with representatives from the R.I. Food Bank and other organizations.
The $3 million figure is larger than the $2 million sum recommended by Gov. Dan McKee in his fiscal year 2027 budget proposal.
Spokespeople for McKee did not respond to a question from The Herald about whether McKee would sign the $3 million appropriations bill if it passed the General Assembly.
“It’s still very early to tell the exact amount that the food bank will receive,” Acosta wrote. He noted that the bill was referred to the Senate’s finance committee, which had its first meeting of the legislative session last week.
In a statement sent to The Herald, Senate Majority Leader Frank Ciccone (D-Providence, Johnston) wrote that the legislature will “balance competing needs with the limited resources available.”
Senate Minority Leader Jessica de la Cruz (R-North Smithfield, Burrillville, Glocester) co-sponsored the bill and noted that the bipartisan nature of the legislation holds “significance.”
“You don’t often see my name and Sen. Mack’s on the same legislation,” de la Cruz wrote. “That speaks to the importance of this issue.”
Sanchez added that food insecurity affects residents of all political affiliations. “Republican families, Democratic families and independent families” need the food provided by the Food Bank, he said.
The need for food assistance is “greater than ever,” Cherney wrote. “We must act with urgency to feed families today and address the root causes of hunger in the future.”
Lev Kotler-Berkowitz is a senior staff writer covering city and state politics. He is from the Boston area and is a junior concentrating in Political Science and Economics. In his free time, Lev can be found playing baseball or running around with his dog.
