NACS Comments on the Vital Role of C-Stores in SNAP

The association has submitted a letter for the record with the Senate Agriculture Committee.

September 21, 2017

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Last week, the Senate Agriculture Committee held a hearing entitled, “Nutrition Programs: Perspectives for the 2018 Farm Bill.” The Farm Bill, and the legislative vehicle that funds the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), will be reauthorized in 2018. In response to the hearing and in preparation for the next Farm Bill, NACS submitted a letter for the record laying out the critical role our industry plays as access points to food for Americans who rely on their SNAP benefits.

NACS states, “As this Committee begins to draft the 2018 Farm Bill, the associations hope lawmakers will keep the Program’s private sector partners, including small format retailers, in mind. Any provisions that result in the imposition of requirements that are too costly or burdensome for small format retailers may lead to those retailers leaving the Program. That, in turn, would hurt the vulnerable Americans who depend on such stores for access to food.”

In the letter, NACS highlights the “depth of stock” regulations, which were finalized last December, and the problematic definition of “variety.” As the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) defines “variety,” a retailer would not be allowed to count two items from the same species (i.e. cream cheese and mozzarella cheese or sliced ham and bacon) towards their stocking requirements. In May, Congress recognized that this interpretation was unworkable for small format retailers and passed language in the omnibus bill that delays the regulations from taking effect until FNS rewrites its definition of variety.

Another point that NACS addresses is recent concerns that several state contractors are pushing for processing fees on SNAP transactions.

“Any fees on SNAP transactions will make it more costly for retailers of all stripes and their customers to participate in SNAP. SNAP benefits should be spent on food – not payment company fees,” states the letter. Currently, SNAP benefits are processed without processing fees, but there have been efforts by some contractors to instill fees.

This week, NACS and SIGMA also submitted formal comments on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s collection of information request to study the scanning technology capability of small retailers who participate in SNAP. The agency plans to survey retailers to gauge their point-of-sale technology and capabilities. The survey will be conducted in response to a provision in the 2014 Farm Bill that requires USDA to mandate standards for point-of-sale technology that would preclude an employee from manually overriding a transaction and selling SNAP ineligible items.

“NACS and SIGMA generally support FNS’ objective to survey small retailers to determine how many of those retailers use POS scanning technologies, how many lack such scanning systems, the costs of adopting and maintaining those scanning systems, and the barriers small retailers face in adopting those technology requirements. In light of the description of the future information collection, however, the associations do have concerns about the quality, utility, and clarity of the information that will be collected and the expected burden on survey respondents,” explains the letter.

FNS has not written or formalized the standards to administer this technology requirement; the survey is the first step in the process to propose a rule that will set these standards. 

Please stay tuned to the NACS Daily for more updates on SNAP and the 2018 Farm Bill.

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