Food bank advocates say Ohio Senate budget skimps on funding

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Some advocacy groups are worried about their funding as Ohio lawmakers get close to finalizing the state budget. One of those groups is foodbanks.

The current budget does fund food banks but nearly enough, according to Matt Habash, the President and CEO of the Mid-Ohio Food Collective.

“The demand right now is up 40% this year over last year,” Habash said.

Habash said the collective serves 20 counties across the state, more than 620,000 people annually and the lines keep growing.

“[The demand] is bigger than it was at the height of the pandemic,” Habash said. “It’s really something we weren’t expecting, but as a result of that we need more help.”

When Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine proposed the state budget at the start of the year, he funded foodbanks at $24.5 million.

“That $24 million at the beginning of the pandemic bought a lot more food than it does today,” Habash said. “We buy about half the amount of food we did a few years ago.”

For example, Habash said fresh produce used to cost $.20 a pound. Now it costs $.30 per pound.

In response to the lack of proposed funding, Habash and other foodbanks asked the House Finance committee for an additional $25 million. Representatives settled on an extra $15 million. But the Senate ultimately took the extra dollars out, bringing the funding back down to $24.5 million.

In a statement, John Fortney, spokesperson for Senate Republicans, said “Yet another advocacy group demanding more of your hard earned tax dollars, which then calls everything a ‘cut’ when they don’t get what they want.”

Senate Finance Chair Matt Dolan (R-Chagrin Falls) said the state has given foodbanks $198.3 million dollars since 2020.

“Just in December we gave them $30 million,” Dolan said. “So, this is not a valuation of foodbanks."

But Habash said, if the dollars do not come, they will have to start giving people less and less food.

“We’re going to have a lot of hungry Ohioans,” he said.

Senators and Representatives will meet behind closed doors over the next several days to reach a budget agreement, which could include funding changes for food banks.

The budget is due June 30 at midnight.