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- Utah Rep. Kristen Chevrier sponsors HB403 to ban SNAP purchases of candy and soda.
- The bill aims to promote healthier choices and reduce obesity-related health issues.
- Health advocate Calley Means supports the bill, urging states to lead SNAP reform.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Rep. Kristen Chevrier, R-Highland, is sponsoring HB403, which prohibits SNAP benefits (also known as food stamps) from being used to purchase candy and soft drinks in Utah, and it passed in committee 7-2 on Friday morning.
The proposed bill does not remove any financial benefit, nor does it impose additional eligibility requirements.
The original purpose of the food stamp program was to give individuals struggling to make ends meet "greater spending power to purchase healthy, nutritious necessities, not to contribute to obesity, anxiety, depression and chronic illness," Chevrier said.
However, as soda is the most commonly purchased item with SNAP dollars, Chevrier is joining a wave of legislators in a dozen other states who are looking at health reform through food stamp restrictions.
"There is zero nutritional value in soft drinks or most candy," Chevrier explained. "We should also not use tax dollars to subsidize unhealthy food products that will lead to obesity and other physical and mental health outcomes for which the state will likely end up footing the bill."
Nationally recognized health advocate joins hearing
Calling in from Phoenix, Arizona, health advocate and former Robert F. Kennedy Jr. adviser Calley Means joined Chevrier in introducing the bill.
Means discussed the larger issue underlying HB403. "There's no clearer incentive that's a problem than the No. 1 item on our supplemental nutrition program, which our lower income folks in Utah and all over America depend on, that going to soda," he said.
Some opponents of the bill believe restrictions to food stamps take away buyers' personal choice. Means addressed this criticism, saying, "It is not personal choice that we're basically incentivizing addictive substances for kids."
He continued, "It's not personal choice when Pepsi and Coca-Cola have lobbied tens of millions of dollars to make sure their products are on food stamps. We're the only country in the world that allows this."
Rep. Doug Fiefia, R-Herriman, asked Means what new administration in the federal government is doing about the issue.
"Bobby Kennedy and Brooke Rollins in their first days in office have talked about SNAP reform … but we all know things in D.C. go slow," Means said.
He referenced a current bill that would need statutory congressional action to revise the food stamp program, but he urged states to take the initiative to change statewide SNAP regulations and not wait for Congress.
Expressing his hope that Utah would inspire national action if the bill passes, Means said, "I think if Utah leads the way and other states lead the way, that would actually put pressure on Congress."
Candy and soft drink restrictions stir opposition
Debate during the hearing began with arguments over how soft drinks and candy should be classified.
Currently, the bill defines candy as a prepared food of "sugar, honey or other natural or artificial sweeteners in combination with chocolate, fruit, nuts, or other ingredients or flavorings in the form of bars, drops, or pieces, and does not require refrigeration."
The bill excluded protein bars with no added sugar.
A soft drink, according to the bill, is a "nonalcoholic beverage that is made with carbonated water and that is flavored and sweetened with sugar or artificial sweeteners." Drinks containing milk, milk products, soy, rice, milk substitutes or 50% or more vegetable or fruit juice do not fit into the bill's definition of soft drink.
These definitions may change before the bill moves to the House for a vote.
Chevrier told the Deseret News that besides soft drink companies, the bill's only opposition has come from the organization, Utahns Against Hunger.
"The first thing they told me was they're afraid the next thing is canned spaghetti sauce," Chevrier said. "Their only objection was they thought it was opening a door to remove other things from the list."
Chevrier doesn't see this as an issue. "We already know that soft drinks and candy are the top sales items for SNAP, so those are the targets. I don't see it going any further than that," she said.
In the past month, two dozen states have proposed what Means describes as MAHA bills. "There is an uprising from the grassroots to fix the incentives of health. At least 20 of those states are requesting SNAP waivers, and those bills are making it through committee," he said.
How would this bill be implemented?
Since Chevrier's bill seeks to modify how a federal program is observed in the state of Utah, it lays out a plan to submit recurring waivers to the USDA.
If approved, a waiver has the power to amend how the SNAP program is observed in Utah. However, to be approved, it must demonstrate a legitimate need and benefit for the change, report justification, suggest an implementation plan and cannot override the program's core federal requirements.
Speaking to the committee, Means expressed his belief that waivers sent to the USDA under Kennedy will pass, given they contain appropriate justification and intent.
