House Committee Tells FNS To Fix Proposed SNAP Rule

Committee members caution Food & Nutrition Service against forcing small retailers out of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

April 20, 2016

WASHINGTON – The House Appropriations Committee yesterday marked up and favorably reported by a voice vote the Fiscal Year 2017 Agriculture Appropriations Bill, a bill that would provide $21.3 billion in discretionary spending for the Agriculture Department, the Food and Drug Administration and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Included in the bill was an amendment that prevents the Food & Nutrition Service (FNS) from using any funds to enact or implement its proposed rule altering retailer standards for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) beyond what was agreed upon by Congress in the 2014 Farm Bill.

The amendment, introduced by Representative Steve Palazzo (R-MS) and supported by Representative Sanford Bishop (D-GA), would restore congressional intent from the 2014 Farm Bill. During the Farm Bill debate, some efforts were made to push small stores out of SNAP. Ultimately, however, Congress recognized the valuable role these neighborhood stores play in the program and a bipartisan compromise was reached that would increase the number of staple foods for beneficiaries, but at a level achievable for small format stores.

Unfortunately, the proposed rule stretches far beyond the agreement in the Farm Bill by changing what retailers can actually count as “staple foods,” by requiring 168 items on shelves at all times, and by redefining what even constitutes a “retail food store.” Representative Palazzo criticized the proposed rule, emphasizing that Democratic and Republican members of the House Agriculture Committee had struck a delicate balance in the 2014 Farm Bill that FNS has overlooked.

Both Representatives Palazzo and Bishop referenced their rural districts and their concern that FNS’s proposed rule will make it exceedingly difficult for small retailers to accept SNAP, which will create detrimental access hurdles for constituents who depend on those stores.

Describing the amendment, Representative Bishop noted, “It will ensure that the Department can increase the types of foods available in stores, but that it does not make so many changes to the program that small stores are forced out.”

Now that the Fiscal Year 2017 Agriculture Appropriations Bill has passed out of the Appropriations Committee, it awaits consideration by the full House of Representatives.

Stay tuned to NACS Daily this week as we will follow up on how you can submit direct comments to the Food & Nutrition Service about the proposed rule and its effects on your business.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement