This time last year, Colorado food pantries were on the brink 鈥� so state lawmakers stepped in to help, passing to help nonprofits stock up on local produce.
A year later, . The Trump administration announced it was eliminating the Local Food Purchase Assistance program, a $500 million grant for food banks, as part of its wide-ranging assault on federal government spending.
And now, the state of Colorado, facing a $1.2 billion budget shortfall of its own, might reduce its contribution to food pantries 鈥� on top of the .
As part of its line-by-line review of state spending, the Joint Budget Committee took a preliminary vote in February to cut $1 million from food assistance grants. That same day, the six-member budget panel also cut $500,000 from a program that helps fund across the state.
The two wrenching choices 鈥� taking away diapers from babies, and food from families in need 鈥� have become a mantra of sorts for lawmakers as they鈥檝e combed through the operations of state agencies in recent weeks, searching for a million dollars here and a hundred thousand dollars there to cut from the state鈥檚 budget. More than once, lawmakers have been confronted by choices that seem a little easier when they try to weigh their human toll against the things they鈥檝e already agreed to do.
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