A sign noting the acceptance of electronic benefit transfer, or EBT, cards that are used by states to issue benefits is displayed at a convenience store on Dec. 4, 2019, in Richmond, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
A bill to ban a food assistance program from covering candy and soda is headed to the Idaho Senate.
The Idaho Senate Health and Welfare Committee on Tuesday advanced the bill to the full Senate, which could be the bill’s last legislative hurdle before potentially becoming law.
Idaho needs federal approval for the proposed ban.
House Bill 109, cosponsored by Rep. Jordan Redman, R-Coeur d’Alene, would require the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare to seek federal approval to exclude candy and soda from foods eligible for coverage by the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
Idaho’s bill is part of the national movement coined “Make America Healthy Again,” or MAHA, promoted by U.S. health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Redman has told lawmakers. And, he said, soda is the “number one commodity spent on SNAP.”
“Since many of the same households utilize Medicaid, taxpayers end up paying for the harmful cause and effect of this poor public policy,” the bill’s senate cosponsor Sen. Ben Toews, R-Coeur d’Alene, told the Senate committee on Tuesday.
Business industry representatives oppose the bill. Arguing the bill wouldn’t be workable, Idaho House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, D-Boise has said it would cause grocery stores to stop accepting SNAP.
In Tuesday’s Senate committee hearing, Toews was skeptical the bill would be unworkable.
“When there’s profits involved, industry finds a way. They have, and they will continue to,” he said, adding that the bill’s candy definition is used by 24 states in tax laws.
Public testimony was mixed. Two supporters of the bill were affiliated with FGA Action, a Florida-based think tank that worked with Redman on his bill that would’ve likely repealed Idaho Medicaid expansion.
The Idaho House narrowly passed the bill earlier this month. If the bill passes the Senate, it would need to avoid the governor’s veto to become law.
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Bill’s candy definition is broad, and would ban granola and power bars, critics say
Pushback has largely focused on the bill’s broad candy definition, which critics say would also ban granola bars and power bars.
The bill defines candy as “a preparation of sugar, honey, or other natural or artificial sweeteners combined with chocolate, fruit, nuts or other ingredients or flavorings” in several forms. Under the bill, candy would not include items that need refrigeration or have more than 10% flour by weight.
But the bill’s soda definition also appears to be broad.
Under the bill, soda includes nonalcoholic beverages with sweeteners, artificial or natural. But the bill doesn’t consider soda to be drinks with more than 50% juice, contain milk or milk substitutes, or that need preparation, such as powders or concentrates.
Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise, said the bill is poorly written and felt like a “nanny state” approach.
“I’m just begging us, please, let’s not be a nanny state, and micromanage this little bit of money and tell people what they should eat when we have the biggest obesity problem in the United States — and it’s not because of poor people eating Chips Ahoy,” Wintrow said.
Sen. Brian Lenney, R-Nampa, said he didn’t struggle with the bill.
“I’m not confused with it. I see lobbyists who represent big corporations coming in here, trying to protect profits for their clients — which is their job. But that’s not my job,” Lenney said.
Sen. Glenneda Zuiderveld, R-Twin Falls, said she thought the issue was worth looking into more, but she said she’d oppose it for now
“Being a taxpayer, I don’t like that my money is being used for something that will make somebody unhealthy, you know. But when you look at obesity, it’s not just about the calorie intake. It’s also about the exercise. So maybe we can … require the SNAP recipients to have to walk a mile to the grocery store before using their card. I — I don’t know,” Zuiderveld told lawmakers.
The Senate committee’s vote on the bill was unclear, with lawmakers only voting by voice.
Almost 131,000 Idahoans are enrolled in SNAP, according to Idaho Department of Health and Welfare figures, receiving an average of $177 in monthly program benefits.
If the federal U.S. Department of Agriculture, or USDA, doesn’t grant Idaho’s candy/soda SNAP ban waiver, the bill says Health and Welfare “shall request such a waiver annually until such a waiver is granted.”
The bill’s fiscal note estimates it would not have a fiscal impact.
Republican legislators in Arizona, Kansas, Utah and Wyoming introduced similar bills, Stateline reported.
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