Iowa bill would fund more food aid — but only if many products left out

DES MOINES — Iowa lawmakers are considering appropriating money to a program that matches dollars provided by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for recipients to purchase more fruits and vegetables.

However, that funding might come with strings attached. The appropriation in the Iowa House legislation would be contingent on the U.S. Department of Agriculture approving a waiver for SNAP exemptions that could strike nearly two-thirds of food products at a grocery store from eligibility.

In early February, the Iowa Senate Health and Human Services Committee advanced Senate Study Bill 1012, which would appropriate $1 million in state funds to the “Double Up Food Bucks” program.

House Study Bill 216, which advanced last week out of a House subcommittee, would do the same, but the funding would depend on whether a waiver submitted by the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services to make exemptions to SNAP-eligible foods is approved by the USDA.

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The Double Up Food Bucks Program provides a 1-to-1 match to SNAP recipients to purchase fruits and vegetables. The program has been running since 2016, but so far has received funding only through private donations.

After the U.S. House passed a budget resolution Tuesday that could direct $230 billion in cuts to SNAP over the next 10 years, food accessibility advocates are concerned about what those cuts will look like at the state level, paired with tightened SNAP eligibility.

Luke Elzinga, a policy and advocacy manager for the Des Moines Area Religious Council, said Iowa House lawmakers are holding the proposed Double Up Food Bucks funding “hostage” by tying it to the waiver approval.

“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,” Elzinga said during a House subcommittee meeting.

If the waiver is approved by the USDA, Elzinga said, the SNAP exemptions would be the broadest in the country and would restrict recipients from roughly “two thirds” of the grocery store.

The bill would limit SNAP recipients to using funds only for the following items: real eggs, real meat, real dairy, bread, grains, all fruits and vegetables, all cereals and hot cereals, granola, peanut butter, nuts, pasta, rice, legumes and any item on the most current Iowa Women Infants and Children program eligibility list.

Paige Chickering, a manager with Iowa’s Save the Children Action Network, said that would take away flexibility from families with picky children or medical or religious dietary restrictions.

“Cooking at home is great, but for working families, especially for folks who might be working multiple jobs, spending an hour cooking a meal every single night of the week, I don't think it really meets the realities that we see in the state when it comes to food," Chickering said.

Chickering offered the example of spaghetti. Under the exemptions, families could purchase pasta, but not pasta sauce. She added that sauce could be homemade, but many low-income families don’t have the time to make a lot of meals from scratch.

The average SNAP benefit for each household member per day in Iowa was $5.59 in 2024 according to the nonpartisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Democratic Rep. Rob Johnson, of Des Moines, who experienced food insecurity growing up, said he supports the Double Up Food Bucks Program, but didn’t want to advance the bill because of the SNAP waiver requirement.

“My mother was a mother on welfare, struggling with mental health issues, who relied on programs like SNAP in order to make sure that we had what we needed,” Johnson said. “I never forget the night when I was 12 years old, I came home to the projects of Chicago, on 29th and State Street. And there were hot dogs and pork and beans on the table, because that's all we could get with what my mother had.”

Johnson added that his son loves fruits and vegetables, but some nights he is picky about what he will eat, so having the flexibility to feed him things like chicken nuggets is helpful.

Thirty-two percent of households receiving SNAP recipients in Iowa have children, according to Iowa’s Health and Human Services department.

Common Good Iowa Director Anne Discher said having the flexibility with SNAP funds when she was raising her children helped keep her family fed.

“The flexibility at a stressful point in our life, to be able to look at my situation, my kids' situation, and buy food that I knew my kids would eat was really essential, and it's essential for us as we were getting back on our feet,” Discher said.

Phil Jeneary with the Iowa Food Bank Association said pantries and food banks across the state are setting record attendance numbers.

Rep. Shannon Lundgren, a Republican from Peosta, said she understands there is a food insecurity crisis in Iowa and would like to “have everything on the table.”

“Just knowing that it doesn't necessarily solve all the problems that we're facing, maybe it creates some new problems,” Lundgren said. “We're hearing that in order to keep the discussion alive and maybe come up with some really good solutions for the end of the year, I think we've got to have that vehicle.”

The bill was advanced by Lundgren and committee Chair Rep. Carter Nordman, a Republican from Adel.

Impact on accessibility and grocery stores

During the House Health and Human Services Subcommittee, Dustin Miller, representing the Iowa Grocery Industry Association, said he would like to see a more uniform approach to requesting a waiver so SNAP food product eligibility can be more consistent across the country.

Elzinga, from the Des Moines Area Religious Council, said SNAP food eligibility restrictions could impact how many stores would qualify as SNAP retailers. According to the USDA store eligibility stocking requirements, a store must have a minimum of 36 staple food items that meet certain conditions. Elzinga said the waiver could broaden rural food deserts by making smaller retailers like gas stations and dollar stores lose their eligibility.

“Are those stores then going to have separate stocking standards for Iowa to make sure that there's enough products that are SNAP eligible?” Elzinga asked. ”It would be great if convenience stores and dollar stores had wider varieties of fresh fruits and vegetables.”