Federal Budget Bill Undermines Fiscal Stability

Rockland County Legislators Beth Davidson, Dana Stilley, Jesse Malowitz, and Paul Cleary joined with People to People CEO Diane Serratore to highlight the impact of federal cuts on food assistance efforts in Rockland County.

Compounding shortfalls caused by federal cuts earlier in the year to The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) is a projected $20M in federal nutrition funding cuts to Rockland alone included in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” passed by Congress and signed by President Trump in July.

The bill also jeopardizes Rockland County’s hard-won AAA credit rating. Just last month, Rockland received the highest possible credit rating of AAA from Moody’s, a historic achievement capping years of fiscal discipline, debt reduction, and bipartisan cooperation.

County Executive Ed Day often reminds residents that when he first took office, Rockland was listed by the New York State Comptroller as the most fiscally stressed county in New York State. The AAA rating reflects the collaborative hard work of the County Executive and County Legislature, resulting in Rockland’s turnaround from “worst to first.”

“Make no mistake: this federal government is blowing a hole in Rockland’s budget and hurting thousands of families who rely on SNAP to put food on the table,” said County Legislator Beth Davidson (Nyack/Clarkstown). “Our county has worked for more than a decade to restore fiscal stability. The SNAP cuts will leave thousands of Rockland residents, including seniors, children, and families, without enough to eat, while putting the county’s financial stability at risk after more than a decade of hard work.”

County Legislator Dana Stilley (Orangetown), said, “By shifting the costs of SNAP onto New York State and Rockland County, the Trump administration is forcing county government to do more with less, at a time when food insecurity in Rockland is going up—not down. People in our community will go hungry, and I can’t stand quietly by and let that happen.”

County Legislator Jesse Malowitz (Suffern/Airmont) said, “The so-called OBBBA imposes onerous new filing and certification requirements on Rockland’s Department of Social Services—which means we’ll either have to hire additional staff or risk a backlog and delay in folks in need getting help, such as food assistance or medical care. This is about standing up for Rockland County and for the people we represent.”

County Legislator Paul Cleary (Haverstraw) said, “I’d like to thank my fellow Legislators and PtoP leadership for bringing attention to this critical situation. We live in one of the richest counties in the state and the nation. Having over 10% of our residents experiencing food insecurity is unacceptable. This country has elected federal officials who believe that cutting taxes for the rich is more important than feeding the hungry. I know the legislators present disagree with this decision. Cutting the Emergency Food Assistance Program and the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program is unconscionable. I urge the Federal Government to restore these vital programs so we can ensure nobody goes hungry. As a legislator from a district with many recipients of these benefits, I see firsthand how important it is to help people make ends meet and have enough food for their families. I will work with my fellow legislators to put pressure on our Federal Officials to rectify this poor policy decision. We’re better than this.”

According to Feeding America, in 2023, the most recent year for which data is available, 40,630 people in Rockland County were food insecure, putting Rockland’s food insecurity rate at 12%.

People to People currently provides food assistance to more than 5,000 low-income Rockland residents per month — working families with children, veterans, seniors and more. The organization was already hit in March 2025, when the US Department of Agriculture canceled the delivery of $1 Billion in USDA food to food banks across the nation. PtoP relies on USDA for nearly 500,000 pounds of food each year to help put food on the tables of struggling Rockland residents.

“Last year at this time, People to People had been able to access nearly 400,000 pounds of USDA food delivered to us at no charge by the Regional Food Bank of New York. As of this August, we’ve been able to secure less than 200,000 pounds of free USDA food,” said PtoP CEO Diane Serratore. “As we see food insecurity continue to rise due to inflation and other economic factors, we need more help from every level of government —not less. People always say to me that People to People does God’s work. I tell them that we don’t do God’s work, we help the government do its job. Federal funding cuts to food assistance programs is going to cripple us,” Serratore said.