Legislative Priorities

As we enter the 2026 legislative session, we recognize that we do so in the wake of a profoundly challenging year for anti-hunger advocacy. In 2025, Congress enacted some of the largest cuts to SNAP in the program’s history, weakening our nation’s first line of defense against food insecurity. At the same time, continued attacks on immigrant communities have created a chilling effect, deterring too many families from accessing critical supports and undermining the health and safety of Maryland communities.  

In addition to the loss of federal support systems, Maryland’s own state structural budget deficit has sparked concern over the state’s ability to respond to the gaps that these cuts have caused and the growing need.  

To tackle these challenges, Maryland Hunger Solutions will remain committed to protecting and strengthening the state’s existing investments in food and nutrition programs through prioritizing the following efforts: 

HB 704/SB 586: Community Eligibility Provision Expansion Program – Establishment 

All Maryland students, regardless of economic status, deserve access to nutritious school meals that support their health and well-being at no cost to them and their families. Maryland Hunger Solutions leads the Healthy School Meals for All Maryland Coalition, which is committed to making this vision a reality through legislative efforts that move Maryland towards a future where ALL students have access to breakfast and lunch at no cost during the school day. This year, we hope to take a meaningful step towards this long-term goal by supporting legislation sponsored by Senator Guy Guzzone and Delegate Julie Palakovich-Carr that aims to establish state funding for schools and districts implementing the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), which is an existing federal provision that allows eligible schools, districts, or groups of schools to serve school meals at no cost to all students.

To learn more about efforts to support CEP or our Healthy School Meals for All campaign, please email Julia Gross at jgross@mdhungersolutions.org. 

Protecting and Strengthening SNAP Investments 

Amid ongoing state budget concerns and a national landscape increasingly intent on weakening access to SNAP, we remain steadfast in our commitment to protecting Maryland’s existing investments and securing adequate funding for the program’s effective administration. We aim to ensure that Maryland maintains our state supplement for older adults, which ensures that SNAP clients ages 60 and older receive an additional $50 per month in SNAP benefits. We also aim to protect Maryland’s state funding for EBT stolen benefit reimbursement, which ensures that families are made whole after experiencing EBT theft.  

As federal cuts and impending cost-shifts place growing pressure on state resources, it is more critical than ever that Maryland sustain these important investments in SNAP and work to ensure individuals and families continue to receive uninterrupted benefits necessary to help keep food on the table.  

To learn more about SNAP priorities, please email Claudet Miranda-Zambrano at CMiranda@mdhungersolutions.org.  

Additional Priorities

• Providing Adequate Funding for State Agencies and Program Administration: We recognize the current fiscal challenges facing the state this year and the difficult task faced by the legislature to ensure a balanced state budget. Despite these challenges, we encourage the legislature to ensure that Maryland’s Department of Human Services, State Department of Education, Department of Agriculture, and Department of Health receive the full funding they need to effectively administer critical state and federal nutrition programs such as SNAP, WIC, school and out of school time nutrition programs, Maryland Market Money, and SUB Bucks. 
• Supporting Increased Protections for Immigrant Communities: The current threats to immigrant families and communities have created a chilling effect that is preventing many Marylanders from accessing critical services, including education and nutrition assistance. As such, we support efforts led by our immigrant rights partners that aim to increase the safety and security of these communities in Maryland. 
• Protecting Investments in Campus Food Security and SNAP for College Students: We aim to protect previous legislative wins which secured funding for the Hunger-Free Campus Grant Program. We will continue to support efforts that expand SNAP access for students and strengthen food security on college campuses.  
• Bolstering Poverty Measuring Efforts within HB 490/SB 311 – The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future – Revision: We support efforts to establish long-term sustainable methods for measuring poverty in order to stabilize and strengthen equitable funding and resources that schools receive to provide important wraparound services to students and families. 
• HB 6/SB 420: Pregnant and Parenting Students – Plan and Reporting 

We expect that there will be many other important legislative efforts to address poverty and food insecurity as well as their root causes. We look forward to working alongside our partners, fellow advocates, and legislative champions to ensure that food security for all Marylanders is a clear and urgent priority in 2026. 

For more information on Maryland Hunger Solutions’ legislative priorities, please contact FRAC’s State Initiatives Director LaMonika Jones at lnjones@mdhungersolutions.org.