By Steve Crane | Editor-in-chief
“This ruling clarifies who can get SNAP ... but I think the fear and the chilling effect from it is still going to be there.” - Ray Serrano, national director of research and policy at the League of United Latin American Citizens, on a recent court ruling on food assistance program cuts that provided some relief for states and for food stamp recipients.
Happy Columbus Day and/or Indigenous People’s Day for those who celebrate one or the other — it’s a mix in Maryland jurisdictions. We’re starting this holiday week with the basics, food and water.
H.R. 1, the One, Big Beautiful Bill, made sweeping changes to SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, that could force thousands off the rolls while costing states like Maryland hundreds of millions of dollars. A recent court ruling, that said the Trump administration overstepped in enacting the law, brought some relief to both groups, but advocates still fear the complex changes will result in immigrant families avoiding benefits like SNAP, even when they qualify. Danielle J. Brown has that story.
It’s not just your gas and your rent and your groceries: The cost of water has also risen faster than the cost of living over the last decade, according to a new analysis. And in Maryland, the costs have grown twice as fast at the growth in household income over the same period, as Kevin Hardy reports.
Those stories, plus commentary and a roundup of headlines from the past week, are below for your holiday reading. Enjoy!
Thousands of immigrant families have already lost access to federal food assistance due to shifting eligibility restrictions based on documentation status. (Photo by Danielle J. Brown/Maryland Matters)
By Danielle J. Brown
A recent court ruling may have saved states from "potentially ruinous financial penalties" related to changes in SNAP rules, but advocates worry that thousands of Maryland families may still lose coverage as they try to navigate the changes.
Those changes stem from provisions in H.R. 1 -- the One, Big Beautiful Bill Act -- that affect individuals' eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and states' management of the program. At stake for immigrant families is the availability of food assistance; for the states, potentially hundreds of millions of penalties if they fall short of the new rules.
Both groups got a break when U.S. District Judge Mustafa T. Kasubhai in Oregon on Sept. 17 sided with 22 states and the District of Columbia, which argued new restrictions on SNAP eligibility ran afoul of federal regulations and arbitrarily barred some non-citizens from receiving food assistance. Despite that, advocates for immigrants and food assistance programs say the uncertainty and the fear stoked in immigrant communities is driving some people away from federal programs, even the ones they qualify for.
Household water bills are increasing faster than inflation and income, according to a new analysis by the nonprofit Food and Water Watch. (Photo by Sarah Ladd/Kentucky Lantern)
By Kevin Hardy
Household water bills are increasing faster than inflation and income, according to a new analysis.
The environmental advocacy nonprofit Food and Water Watch analyzed water bill data among the nation’s 500 largest community water providers, which serve a collective 155 million people — nearly half the nation’s population. Between 2015 and 2025, water bills increased by 62% on average across those water providers. That was faster than the overall inflation rate and more than two times the rate of grocery price increases over the same period. Food and Water Watch found that water bills increased 19% faster than household incomes, meaning people are spending a greater share of their earnings on water.
Water bills in Maryland, as in Louisiana, New Hampshire and West Virginia, grew about twice as fast as household incomes, the analysis found. Costs varied widely across the country: In Idaho, the average household spent $286 on water bills last year. In West Virginia, the average cost was $1,383. Despite the increases, Maryland water costs remained about the median for the nation.
IN OTHER NEWS
Getting out the student vote: With Maryland’s advance voter registration deadline approaching Tuesday, student organizations on college campuses across the state are working to get more young people registered and prepared to cast their ballots.
TSA still looks to privatize some operations: It may have scrapped the Gold+ concept for privatizing some security operations, but the Transportation Security Administration is still exploring how it can expand privatized airport screening.
Hurricane remnants dump rain on Maryland: After Hurricane Isaias knocked out power to hundreds of thousands across a large the Southeast, and caused at least four deaths this weekend, remnants of the storm brought heavy rains to Maryland on Sunday.
TODAY'S COMMENTARY
Traditional health insurance pressures doctors to work at volume, or if they add layers of bureaucracy that independent physicians can't easily handle, writes Dimitri Coupet, who says it's time to consider formalizing a direct payment of care model.
MATTERS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED
Offshore insurance gets another look: State officials are taking another look at how Maryland’s nonprofit hospitals store billions of dollars in “captive insurance” companies in the Cayman Islands, to determine if those funds should be subject to state taxes.
A deadly heat season: Maryland’s heat season ended with record-breaking heat-related illnesses and deaths: The 61 fatalities shattered the 2012 record of 42 deaths, and 1,657 emergency calls topped last year's record 1,634. Health experts point to climate change.
Houses 4 Ca$h: The signs, mailers and texts promise cash, quick sales and a seamless way to unload unwanted homes. But advocates say wholesale home deals can confuse and shortchange vulnerable homeowners, and states, including Maryland, are cracking down.
Election betting surging: Prediction markets have emerged as a flashpoint in state and federal relations, as a host of states struggle with the Trump administration over who regulates the platforms and whether state laws restricting gambling on elections apply.
MOST-READ STORIES OF THE WEEK
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