WASHINGTON — Connecticut faces the loss of $80 million in federal funding to run its food stamp program as the state refuses to turn over personal data to the U.S. government and is suing to overturn the demand. U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro of New Haven, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said the threat by the Trump administration to withhold the money is part of a “continued abuse of hungry families in America.” “This administration is so cruel and cold-hearted that all they see are pawns in their political game,” she said on Wednesday. “They are so out of touch that they think starving our neighbors is good for their politics. They are so preoccupied with partisanship that they cannot see the basic humanity of the people they are hurting.” U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said this week that the agency won’t send the administrative funds to any state that refuses to turn over information about food stamp recipients. She said the information is needed to help fight fraud.  On average, more than 160,000 Connecticut residents receive help to buy groceries under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In New Haven, 30,750 people were receiving SNAP benefits as of September, according to the state Department of Social Services. The state has refused to turn over information to the federal government and instead joined 21 others and the District of Columbia in suing to block the data collection. A federal judge blocked the government’s efforts in October. “We have a court order that prohibits USDA from forcing states to turn over this information,” Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said. “Court orders are not optional, and we will not hesitate to use every legal tool available to ensure that the Trump administration respects and follows the law.” All of the states threatened by USDA are run by Democrats and all have refused to provide the requested information. “The Trump administration is free to do its job and prevent fraud and abuse without trolling through grocery lists and years of sensitive personal information for tens of millions of families,” Tong said. “And, if they care one bit about American families during the holidays, they will drop this cruel and depraved attack on families and kids.” Connecticut also was one of the states that successfully sued the Trump administration when it refused to release SNAP funding during the record-long government shutdown this fall, even though federal spending bills included emergency funding to continue the assistance. The administration even appealed lower court rulings to the U.S. Supreme Court to avoid funding food stamps.  “The contingency funding that we set aside for SNAP is not optional spending,” DeLauro said at the time. ”It is required by the law.” The post DeLauro Decries Feds’ Dollars-Data Threat appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less