The subcommittee meeting for House File 3 was held yesterday, and the room was absolutely packed full of advocates speaking out against HF 3. People are fired up about this bill and legislators and the media took notice. Thank you to everyone who spoke out against HF 3 and helped to raise awareness about this bad bill!
While the outcome was not what we hoped, it was what we expected. The bill advanced out of the subcommittee on a 2-1 party line vote, but members of the subcommittee said they will be making changes to the bill before it comes before the full House Health and Human Services Committee. So, we’ve got our work cut out for us.
But first, let’s celebrate a win! The WIC-approved food list is out. Iowans spoke loud and clear that they did not want our legislators limiting the food options for low-income Iowans. But, while the WIC list is out, there is going to be an amendment to ban soda and candy from SNAP purchases.
The coming days and weeks are going to be critical in stopping HF 3. Please contact the members of the House Health and Human Services Committee (listed below) and ask them to:
- Scrap the asset test. This is one of the most harmful pieces of the bill and would especially put Iowans with more than one vehicle at risk of losing access to SNAP benefits. Iowans well below the asset limit would also be at risk of losing their benefits due to the additional administrative hoops Iowans would have to jump through.
- Provide a clean $1 million appropriation for the Double Up Food Bucks (DUFB) program. Currently this funding is contingent upon the USDA granting Iowa a waiver to restrict soda and candy from SNAP, something we believe is highly unlikely to happen. The state should instead provide a clean $1 million for DUFB that is not tied to any other piece of HF 3.
- Better yet, kill the bill entirely! There are a lot of other bad pieces of HF 3, including work requirements for the Medicaid expansion population, requiring custodial parents to cooperate with the child support recovery unit to receive SNAP, a computerized identity authentication process, and other administrative hurdles for Iowans accessing public assistance programs.
Visit iowahungercoalition.org/protect-snap for more info on HF 3.
Iowa House Health and Human Services Committee Members
Rep. Ann Meyer – ann.meyer@legis.iowa.gov
Rep. Tom Jeneary – tom.jeneary@legis.iowa.gov
Rep. Devon Wood – devon.wood@legis.iowa.gov
Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell – beth.wessel-kroeschell@legis.iowa.gov
Rep. Eddie Andrews – eddie.andrews@legis.iowa.gov
Rep. Austin Baeth – austin.baeth@legis.iowa.gov
Rep. Michael Bergan – michael.bergan@legis.iowa.gov
Rep. Brian Best – brian.best@legis.iowa.gov
Rep. Brooke Boden – brooke.boden@legis.iowa.gov
Rep. Steven Bradley – steven.bradley@legis.iowa.gov
Rep. Timi Brown-Powers – timi.brown-powers@legis.iowa.gov
Rep. John Forbes – john.forbes@legis.iowa.gov
Rep. Joel Fry – joel.fry@legis.iowa.gov
Rep. Barb Kniff McCulla – barb.kniffmcculla@legis.iowa.gov
Rep. Brian Lohse – brian.lohse@legis.iowa.gov
Rep. Shannon Lundgren – shannon.lundgren@legis.iowa.gov
Rep. Mary Madison – mary.madison@legis.iowa.gov
Rep. Heather Matson – heather.matson@legis.iowa.gov
Rep. Thomas Moore – tom.moore@legis.iowa.gov
Rep. Josh Turek – josh.turek@legis.iowa.gov
Rep. Hans Wilz – hans.wilz@legis.iowa.gov