Sodas, candy to be banned from Texas food stamp purchases

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For years, Texas lawmakers have tried to stop food stamp recipients from purchasing snack food.

With support from the federal government, Texas’ first step to root out unhealthy foods from the Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program, or SNAP, will become reality after Senate Bill 379 from state Sen. Mayes Middleton, R-Galveston, made it through in the last week of the legislative session. It comes just four months after fellow Texan and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins signaled to states that the agency would green light measures that prohibit SNAP recipients from using their subsidies to buy certain foods.

The measure is likely to be signed quickly by Gov. Greg Abbott, who has already notified Rollins’ office he wants a waiver from federal rules to keep junk food from SNAP purchases. Indiana, Iowa and Nebraska have filed similar legislation and have been granted waivers. But opponents of such measures say keeping unhealthy foods from only SNAP recipients — and not all Americans — ultimately penalizes poverty.

“On its face, it sounds fine, right? … Let's restrict soda. Sodas are bad for everyone,’” said Amber O’Connor, food policy analyst for Every Texan, a left-leaning nonprofit research group. “Exactly. Sodas are bad for everyone. So, if we want to make Texas healthy again, let's talk about those ingredients.”

Middleton’s original bill covered a wide range of snacks including sweetened drinks, cookies, chips and candy. But lawmakers from both chambers negotiated it down to only sodas and candy. A banned sweetened drink is defined as "a nonalcoholic beverage made with water that contains five grams or more of added sugar or any amount of artificial sweeteners,” but excludes fruit juices and milk beverages.

“The USDA’s stated purpose for the SNAP program is nutritious food essential to health and well being,” Middleton said when he presented the bill before the Senate Health and Human Services Committee in March. “The bottom line is that taxpayer-funded junk food turns into taxpayer-funded health care.”

Once signed, the measure can go into effect Sept. 1, but Texas Health and Human Services Commission and retailers are expected to bear the heavy lift to set up the state’s Lone Star card system to reject such purchases.

“We certainly understand the thinking behind it, but food retailers are the ones who have to comply with it,” said Gary Huddleston, grocery industry analyst for the Texas Retailers Association, adding that larger retailers have the IT staff to help implement the changes under the bill, but he worries about the smaller rural stores. “They’re going to have to spend money to comply with this.”

According to the latest data available, 3.5 million Texans received $616 million in SNAP benefits in April. The average Lone Star card user was allotted $378 in SNAP benefits.

SNAP is fully funded by federal taxpayer dollars. States participating in the USDA program must pay 50% of the cost to administer the program’s administrative costs. Last year, Texas taxpayers funded about $215 million of that cost, according to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.

For months, Republicans in Washington have proposed dramatic cuts to SNAP. While nothing has been passed yet, one suggestion is that states pay for a larger portion of the food assistance program. That federal willingness to cut SNAP has unleashed several proposals from states to restrict what is purchased.

More cuts to the SNAP program, whether they be restrictions on food stamps or changes in who can qualify, would increase demand on food banks, something many are bracing for right now.

Federal food assistance programs have been around since the 1930s. The modern food assistance program most Americans still refer to as the food stamp program was created when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Food Stamp Act of 1964. Since then, it was renamed the Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program, or SNAP, and electronic debit cards replaced the old coupon-like food stamp booklets many Americans recall from the 1970s

Historically, people have pushed back against regulating SNAP purchases because they say such policies discriminate against poor people. Eliminating more prepared food items, in particular, fails to take into consideration the limited access poorer Texans have to electricity, a refrigerator, stove and an oven, they say.

“Sometimes, there's a kid at home alone in a house that has no electricity,” O’Connor said. “They have no experience cooking. Is it more important that they get calories to get through until tomorrow or is it more important that they spend their $6 allotment on a $3 bell pepper?”

Most of the opposition to the original version of SB 379, including from Huddleston's association, was how broad it was, which could have made it harder on the 21,000 SNAP retailers statewide to police. Retailers who stand to profit off SNAP payments have typically opposed placing restrictions. Walmart, which registered as opposed to the bill, declined to comment to The Texas Tribune on Tuesday.

“Our main opposition to SNAP restrictions is because we SNAP recipients should have the same choices as other customers," Huddleston said.

Paring down the list of restricted foods under the bill will also help ease the transition for SNAP recipients, according to food banks, which help Texans sign up for the benefits.

“We’re pleased to see that the scope of the bill has been narrowed and now closely aligns with the guidance outlined in Governor Abbott’s letter,” said Celia Cole, CEO of Feeding Texas, the state association of food banks. “This clarity will ease implementation and reduce confusion for SNAP participants.”

Disclosure: Every Texan and Feeding Texas have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

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