BOSTON (SHNS) - With thousands of immigrants in Massachusetts expected to lose federally funded food assistance, a longtime state representative from New Bedford is pitching a proposal to offer state-funded aid, hearkening back to decades ago on Beacon Hill when the policy was previously in place.

The Department of Transitional Assistance would be required to provide state-funded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits to residents who are legally present in Massachusetts, under Rep. Antonio Cabral's bill (H 207).

The proposed state benefits would match the federal level, and residents would be subject to the same eligibility requirements, aside from immigration status or citizenship.

"From 1997 to 2002, Massachusetts provided these benefits at the state level. We actually se

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