LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Legislation to keep food-stamp recipients from using their benefits to purchase junk food and soda has been dismissed.
The bill was introduced last year and became one of the most sponsored proposals going into regular legislative session in January. But it died in a Senate committee on Wednesday, the Arkansas Democratic-Gazette (https://bit.ly/2lsScG9 ) reported.
Proponents said the bill would’ve helped cut obesity-related medical costs in Arkansas, but the Senate Public Health Welfare and Labor Committee balked at the bill during Wednesday’s voice vote.
Democratic Sen. Eddie Cheatham later said the bill “would just kind of slap at people that were needing a hand up.”
“There may be some abuse in what children are eating, but the majority of these people that get these cards are really disadvantaged,” he said.
The legislation was approved in the Arkansas House last month. The bill’s sponsor, Republican Rep. Mary Bentley, acknowledged that she expected a tough fight in the Senate. She said the bill faced pushback from grocers concerned about cost implementations and soft-drink manufacturers.
“I think they realized that they weren’t going to be able to stop it in the House. They focused all their energy down there in the Senate, the lobbyists did,” Bentley said.
Bentley said she’ll look into other ways states have reduced unhealthful purchases through food-stamp programs.
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Information from: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, https://www.arkansasonline.com
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