New Jersey State Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin announced that he will introduce two new bills intended to expand access to food assistance programs in New Jersey.

One bill would create a new Office of Volunteerism to help Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients meet new federal requirements. Under the recently enacted “One Big Beautiful” law, participants must re-certify eligibility every six months and meet work, school or volunteer standards. Advocates have warned the changes could remove thousands of households from the program.

A second bill would streamline access to the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs. The proposal would require school districts to add a clear application link to the front page of their websites. While eligibility was expanded last year to cover an additional 60,000 students, not all eligible children are currently enrolled.

Thanks to the successful advocacy of Agudath Israel of America’s New Jersey office, that expansion law was amended after being introduced to also include non-public schools participating in federal lunch and breakfast programs.

Coughlin said the measures build on existing state initiatives, including $85 million in annual funding for emergency food providers and new state-backed local food programs established after federal cutbacks.