Toby Salomonosier outlines Maine's Ending Hunger roadmap and warns of SNAP funding shifts

Toby Salomonosier, the anti-hunger policy coordinator in the governor's office, told a Bangor community meeting that Maine's Ending Hunger Initiative began with a 2019 legislative resolve to end hunger by 2030 and was formally adopted as a road map in 2022.

"This started back in 2019 when the legislature passed a resolve to end hunger by 2030," Salomonosier said, and she described a three-year process that engaged more than 200 community members to write the road map. The office that created her position now coordinates operations planning and state-level implementation, she said.

Salomonosier said the road map combines short-term responses to food insecurity with upstream work addressing poverty, organized around five pillars: building implementation capacity, expanding food access, bolstering economic security, closing equity gaps, and changing the public narrative about food insecurity. She said the initiative adopted six short-term priorities in late 2024 that focus heavily on federal nutrition programs and centering people with lived experience in decision-making.

The coordinator warned about recent federal changes that have reduced SNAP participation and shifted costs to the state. "We've seen pretty significant and harmful cuts to SNAP," she said, noting new work requirements for some adults and the elimination of eligibility for some lawfully present immigrants. Salomonosier said that Maine's state-funded SNAP program has helped transition some people but that "we still seen several 100 people lose benefits." She described an administrative-cost change that moves the state toward shouldering a larger share (from a prior 50/50 split to a 25/75 split), and cautioned that by 2028 the state could face a larger benefit-cost share. "For Maine, that might look like $50,000,000 a year at our current payment error rate," she said.

Salomonosier also reviewed data and outreach: she said SNAP caseloads have declined since HR1 took effect, estimating declines of "about 20,000 people" since early 2025 and "about 10,000" since August onward, and noted the creation of a network of SNAP outreach contractors, a public Ending Hunger dashboard, and county fact sheets. She urged attendees to consult the office's 2024 annual report on food insecurity and offered to circulate links and materials.

Why it matters: Salomonosier framed the road map as both an immediate response system and a guide for longer-term policy and budget choices. The projected state fiscal exposure and documented declines in SNAP participation have implications for state budgeting, local providers and residents who rely on federal nutrition supports.

Salomonosier closed by inviting questions and said the office is working on operations planning and preparing for an incoming state administration. She offered to share the office's links and resources with local organizers.