Stop ‘fixing’ Iowa food assistance

Republicans who control the Iowa Legislature can’t leave the state’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program alone.

In 2023, lawmakers considered a bill that would drastically curtail the food items eligible for purchase by SNAP recipients. The list didn’t include chicken, pork and beef. The bill was scrapped.

Last year, lawmakers passed a bill that would, for the first time, make SNAP recipients pass an assets test. It basically brought additional reporting requirements that could lead to eligible Iowans losing food help.

Now, we’re back to tightening the list of foods SNAP families can buy.

A bill, HSB 216, would increase funding by $1 million for the Double Up Food Bucks Program, which provides a one-to-one match for dollars used to buy fruits and vegetables. That’s good news.

The bad news is those extra dollars are contingent on a federal waiver allowing Iowa to strike roughly two-thirds of food products from the SNAP eligibility list. The latest version would leave list-making to the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services.

The purchase of healthy foods should be encouraged by the state. There are many ways to do it. But a prescriptive approach could be harmful.

“This bill punishes poor people, increases program stigma and pushes the false notion that low-income Iowans cannot be trusted to make the best food choices for their families,” said Luke Elzinga, a policy and advocacy manager for the Des Moines Area Religious Council, at a House subcommittee meeting.

We agree.

Republicans contend the goal is reducing obesity in Iowa. Iowa’s overall adult obesity rate is 37%.

But counties with the highest rates are in rural Iowa, according to County Health Rankings & Roadmaps. Several counties have rates toping 40%, including Jones and Tama countries at 43%.

Limiting purchases could hit rural recipients hardest. With fewer grocery stores and smaller stores unable to stock prescribed food, the rules might contribute to food deserts. Recipients with barriers to transportation may not be able to travel to a qualifying store.

Sixty-four percent of Iowa SNAP recipients are families with children. Flexibility is key for those Iowans.

SNAP clients, according to a USDA study, have buying habits that are much like people not receiving assistance. That doesn’t fit with the idea low-income shoppers are buying far more unhealthy items than other Americans.

Recipients already face the prospect of a potential $230 billion federal SNAP funding cut over the next 10 years. Adding new state requirements, coupled with cuts, won’t help families get the food they need. And that’s the whole point of SNAP.

(319) 398-8262; editorial@thegazette.com