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Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Ban on use of food stamps for candy, soda debated by Missouri lawmakers
The purpose of the SNAP program is to help low-income families supplement their grocery budgets to afford nutritious food (). Low-income Missourians who receive food assistance would be prohibited from buying soda and candy with their benefits under a bill debated Tuesday. The bill, sponsored by state Rep. Jamie Gragg, a Republican from Ozark, would restrict food purchases under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, previously called food stamps, if approved by the federal government. The bill would 'get us back to where the original program was meant to go,' Gragg argued in Tuesday afternoon during a hearing of the House Committee on Government Efficiency. 'The program's been bastardized.' The purpose of the SNAP program is to help low-income families supplement their grocery budgets to afford nutritious food. As of last month, over 320,000 households in Missouri received SNAP benefits, loaded onto electronic benefits transfer cards used to purchase groceries. The average value of benefits per household was $396. Proponents argue that taxpayer dollars, through the SNAP program, shouldn't subsidize unhealthy food and beverages, which worsen people's health. Opponents called the proposal government overreach — limiting low income families' freedom to choose their food — and overly broad, potentially banning SNAP access for things like granola bars and electrolyte drinks. State Rep. Jim Murphy, a Republican from St. Louis, asked whether 'any pre-process food could be deemed unhealthy' and added to the list of banned purchases. 'Do we want to be the nanny state that says, 'you can eat this and you can't eat that?'' Murphy said. 'Where does that end?' Rep. Darin Chappell, a Republican from Rogersville, said the list of unhealthy foods could keep growing. 'My concern is we can add to this list ad infinitum,' Chappell said. 'The United Nations tells us that red meat is a carcinogen…at what point do we stop micromanaging this list?' Similar bills have been proposed in other states, including Arizona, West Virginia, Idaho and Kansas. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., health and human services secretary, has said he supports restricting SNAP for junk food, and the agriculture secretary, Brooke Rollins, has signaled interest. The conservative national think tank Foundation for Government Accountability has helped push for the change. 'Food stamps have fueled the junk food epidemic, with soda ranking as the number one commodity bought with food stamps,' Gragg told the committee — a direct quote from a report published by the Foundation for Government Accountability earlier this year. James Harris, a lobbyist for the Foundation for Government Accountability, called the bill common sense. 'If this were to pass and it helps one child have a little more milk or something of actual nutrition in their home, that's great,' Harris testified. '…This just would allow Missouri to hopefully help some children have access to more nutritional food, besides maybe what they get at school.' Those testifying in opposition included the progressive anti-poverty nonprofit Empower Missouri, along with industry groups such as the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Missouri Grocers Association and the Missouri Beverage Association. Nationally, beverage groups have been lobbying to keep sodas in the program, the Wall Street Journal reported late last year. A 2016 report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees SNAP, found that the households that rely on the program have similar spending patterns to non-SNAP households. For both SNAP and non-SNAP households, the report stated, 'more money was spent on soft drinks than any other item.' SNAP households spent 5% of their grocery budget on soft drinks, and non-SNAP households spent 4%. The percent spent on candy, 2%, was the same between both groups. The bill defines candy as a food product 'containing sugar, honey, or other natural or artificial sweeteners in combination with chocolate, fruit, nuts, or other ingredients or flavorings in the forms of bars, drops, or pieces.' It defines a soft drink as 'nonalcoholic beverages that contain natural or artificial sweeteners' but does not contain milk or milk substitutes or beverages that are more than 50% fruit or vegetable juice by volume. The definition would prevent the purchase of Powerade with SNAP funds, but allow sugary bottled coffee drinks with milk, said Katie Gamble, a lobbyist for Missouri Beverage Association. State Rep. Dean Van Schoiack, a Republican from Savannah, said it seems that granola bars would fall under the candy definition, 'and I always thought they were supposed to be healthy.' Christine Woody, director of food policy for Empower Missouri, said individuals could cross the border into neighboring states and spend their SNAP dollars on banned items there. She added that a better strategy would be to incentivize the purchase of healthy food, by 'really investing in some of the programs that are successful,' such as by incentivizing the purchase of fruits and vegetables. Those opposed said any changes should be federally decided, rather than having each state determine what is healthy or not. Missouri would submit a waiver to the federal government requesting this change, if the bill is passed, but there's no guarantee it'd be approved. States' previous attempts to limit SNAP purchases in this way have been rejected by the federal government, including because of being complex to implement, having vague standards of what is defined as healthy, and failing to show they would reduce obesity. No action was taken on the bill Tuesday. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
GOP representatives want to ask Missouri voters again about abortion
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Lawmakers heard legislation Tuesday to reverse what voters approved in November as GOP members are trying to make abortion illegal in the state again. Missouri was the first state to ban abortion following the overturning of Roe vs. Wade. Then, in November, voters approved Amendment 3, lifting the ban. Since then, Republicans have said they will use this legislative session to push back against the referendum, this time by taking the question back to voters. 'This is not politicians making decisions for you, your doctor and your healthcare,' Rep. Jamie Gragg, R-Ozark, said. 'This is actually letting you guys make that decision again.' On Tuesday, a long-debated political issue took center stage in the state capitol. 'They presented false information to people who voted for Amendment 3,' Susan Klein, Missouri Right to Life, told the committee. 'The opposition is going to say voters didn't understand what they voted for but we believe that Missourians are smarter than that; they knew exactly what they were voting for,' executive director for Abortion Action Missouri Mallory Schwarz said. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now For hours, lawmakers heard testimony about legislation that would case voters if abortion should be allowed in cases of rape, incest or medical emergencies. In those cases, law enforcement would have to sign off on the rape or incest report and then abortion would only be legal for up to 12 weeks. 'Twelve weeks is simply not grace or empathy for survivors,' House Minority Leader Ashley Aune, D-Kansas City, said. 'I would argue that under Amendment 3, which was passed by the voters, we do give much more grace to survivors by allowing them the time and the space to understand what's happening physically and emotionally.' Rep. Melanie Stinnett, R-Springfield, is sponsoring the legislation, House Joint Resolution 54. 'I think when we have concerns, it is our job as state representatives to, as we're having today, a discussion and consider changes that modify, clarify the language,' Stinnett said. Back in November, Amendment 3 won with nearly 52% approval. Even though the state's abortion ban was overturned, the procedure still isn't being offered inside Planned Parenthood clinics, as both sides await a judge's ruling to overturn the ban. 'Millions of Missourians made it clear by a statewide vote that we support access to crucial reproductive care,' Collins Chetwin said in opposition to the bill. 'Your job is to uphold the will of the people and defend our rights but instead you are attacking and eroding our bodily autonomy.' Last month, House Speaker Jon Patterson, R-Lee's Summit, said he didn't think a complete repeal of the referendum would be possible. 'I think we're all trying to come up with a plan, as I've said, that makes Missouri the most pro-life state it can be,' Patterson said in January. 'It's hard because we want to make it as pro-life as possible but I don't think the voters would pass a repeal, so we have to find something that's in between.' Edmonds speaks out after leaving Cardinals broadcasts Patterson stated that he established a working group to determine the specifics of the plan, acknowledging the challenges ahead and anticipating a debate on the initiative later in the session. 'Whatever we do has to go back to the voters,' Patterson said. 'We just don't know what that vehicle is yet and I think things will coalesce during the middle of session and then the finale will happen at the end of session.' This legislation also includes a provision prohibiting public funds from being used to pay for surgeries, hormones or drugs for transgender minors. 'Unfortunately, I think this is just the beginning; I don't think this is the last attack we will see this session on Amendment 3, the right to reproductive freedom. I think we will see more creative and different attacks, but the bottom line: they are unconstitutional under the right that we voted for and enshrined in the Missouri Constitution and the people of Missouri will continue to show up to prove that,' Schwarz said. The committee did not take any action on the legislation Tuesday. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
