WALTHAM, MA — Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Kennealy came out swinging Tuesday, torching Governor Maura Healey for what he calls a “truly offensive” plan to let more than a million Massachusetts residents “go hungry” as food aid runs out.

“The more than one million Massachusetts residents at risk of losing SNAP benefits next month should never be used as ‘leverage,’ and Maura Healey’s plan to let them go hungry is truly offensive to everyone but her,” said Kennealy. “With Maura Healey in the Corner Office, Massachusetts has a governor but not a leader willing to put our neighbors above their own partisan agenda. It’s time for a change.”

Kennealy’s fiery statement came as he unveiled an 11-point rescue plan to protect SNAP benefits and slam the brakes on what he describes as a crisis of leadership. The proposal is part policy memo, part indictment — painting Healey as a governor sitting on billions while families face empty refrigerators.

The former Baker administration official says the state’s $8.6 billion rainy-day fund could easily keep SNAP afloat for a month, costing just 2.5 percent of its balance. “During the Baker-Polito Administration, the rainy-day fund grew from $1 billion to $8 billion over eight years, even while we returned $3 billion to taxpayers in 2022,” Kennealy noted. “Under Healey, it has increased by only $600 million in nearly three years.”

His plan calls for an immediate cash infusion to feed children, veterans, and seniors — and a full-scale audit of SNAP to uncover “waste, fraud, abuse, and corruption.” He says the public deserves to know how many people hold multiple EBT cards, how many ineligible individuals are enrolled, and how many recent migrants are receiving benefits under Healey’s “sanctuary state policies.”

Kennealy’s first move would be to call every member of Massachusetts’ all-Democrat congressional delegation — Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, and Representatives Katherine Clark and Jim McGovern — and tell them to get back to Washington and reopen the government. He’d make the results public, “including the excuses provided for prolonging the closure.”

He also pointed to what he called “offensive” comments from top Democrats suggesting suffering families were acceptable political collateral. Clark admitted, “There will be, you know, families that are going to suffer… But it is one of the few leverage times we have.” McGovern added that he wanted states “putting all the pressure they can on the administration.” Kennealy shot back: “Unlike Representatives Clark and McGovern, I refuse to let children, veterans, and seniors starve to gain political leverage.”

The plan doesn’t stop there. Kennealy says if Healey won’t act, he’d file emergency legislation to fund SNAP for lawful residents who’ve lived in Massachusetts for at least six months — protecting those who need help without creating what he calls a “right-to-SNAP sanctuary state.”

For working adults not covered by emergency relief, he’d deliver pocketbook help: suspend the sales tax on prepared foods, waive bag and bottle fees, pause the gas tax, and scrap “green gimmicks” from utility bills that pad costs but do nothing for struggling families.

Kennealy even said he’d “fly to D.C. to meet President Trump directly” and request federal reimbursement — a jab clearly aimed at Healey’s frequent TV appearances.

The Republican hopeful’s message was blunt: Healey can blame Washington all she wants — but she has the tools to fix this now. His 11-point plan reads like a challenge: pick up the phone, spend the money, and stop pretending Massachusetts can’t afford to feed its own.

Or, as Kennealy put it, “Massachusetts has a governor, but not a leader.”