MONTGOMERY — On Wednesday, the Alabama House of Representatives advanced a bill that would ban the use of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to buy unhealthy snacks, such as candy, sugary sodas and energy drinks.
The legislation, SB57, sponsored by State Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur), would require the Department of Human Resources to request a waiver from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service to exclude candy and soda from the definition of eligible food for purposes of SNAP benefits. The waiver is a "key step in ensuring that taxpayer dollars provide nutritious options that improve health outcomes within SNAP," according to the USDA.
The bill faced significant pushback from House Democrats, particularly State Reps. Thomas Jackson (D-Thomasville) and Juandalynn Givan (D-Birmingham).
In a discussion with State Rep. Reed Ingram (R-Pike Road), who is carrying the bill in the House, Jackson called the bill "terrible."
"I represent people that make about $27,000 a year, and SNAP is a way of life for most of those persons in my district," Jackson stated.
"I'm trying to figure out where we're trying to go here in Alabama," he later said during debate. "Do we want to help people, or do we want to keep oppressing them? You know, $184 is not a lot of money, and then you're going to tell a kid he can't eat potato chips and candy. You know, sometimes a piece of candy curtails hunger. I know it's not nutritious, but it keeps one from crying that I'm hungry."
He went on to tell a story about how he'd eat popcorn and add a lot of salt, so he'd need to drink water to keep from being hungry.
Jackson then quoted Matthew 25 in which Jesus stated in part, "[W]hatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'" In his ongoing protestation that lasted over 10 minutes before the bill was even brought to the floor, the lawmaker tied SNAP benefits to Jesus' teachings, saying it was a "hypocrisy" that Alabama claimed to be pro-life and had executions.
"We care more about animals than we do people," he later asserted.
While debating the bill on the floor, Ingram noted that "approximately 64% of the people on SNAP buy soft drinks."
Givan claimed that the bill was a "clear target" for a specific demographic. She argued that more white people were on SNAP than non-white people.
"This isn't about color," Ingram replied.
"Y'all could care less about the poor little black kids in the community, come on, man," Givan continued, asking when the last time he visited the poor community in his district.
Ingram noted that he was homeless for several years growing up, to which Givan said his homelessness wasn't the same as black people's homelessness.
"You ain't had it hard because you never woke up black," she continued as the two split hairs over homelessness.
Ingram warned that failing to pass the legislation could result in a 20% loss of SNAP funding and would not improve the state's overall health.
The bill ultimately passed 75-27, amended to add energy drinks that aren't tea- or coffee-based.
The legislation will go to committee on the final day of the legislative session.
After the vote to pass the legislation, Ingram was unsure whether the energy drinks amendment would make it through the Senate, but said he is willing to get whatever he can passed so the state can take steps to improve health and follow federal policy, or else risk losing funding.
"There's 22 other states that have passed something. We're probably the slackest," Ingram told the press. "This is the best I could negotiate. ... I wanted to take out soft drinks as a whole, all soda drinks. We did not. And I wanted to take out diet drinks, because as you well know, some of the diet ingredients are probably just as bad for you as the sugar. That was a compromise.
"But I think what we've done today will satisfy, showing our foot forward on reform on SNAP for the state of Alabama," he added, emphasizing the need to get people of Alabama "healthy again."
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