A bill that would prohibit food-stamp benefits from being used to buy candy or soft drinks failed to clear a Senate committee for a second time on Wednesday.
As originally crafted, House Bill 1035, which the House passed in January, would seek to limit the use of federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits to items that the state Department of Health deemed to have "sufficient nutritional value.
After the bill failed in the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee last month, it was amended to bar only the purchase of soft drinks and candy.
It would also allow the benefits to be used for "prepared protein," which the sponsor, Rep. Mary Bentley, R-Perryville, said was meant to include hot food items that can't be purchased with food stamps under the current rules.
"I'd much rather see a student on his way to school get a warm sausage, egg, chicken biscuit versus a candy bar and a Coke," Bentley said.
The changes would require a waiver from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers the program and has never approved a junk-food ban.
Dennis Farmer, president of the Arkansas Beverage Association, told the committee the bill, as amended, unfairly singled out soft drinks.
Charlie Spakes, president of the Arkansas Grocers and Retail Merchants Association, said it would create a hassle for grocery stores but wouldn't change recipients' buying habits, since food stamps typically make up only part of what they spend on groceries.
The committee rejected the bill in a 3-3 vote. Five votes are needed for the approval of the eight-member committee.
A Section on 03/09/2017