The short version: where do things stand now in the Iowa legislature?
- Medicaid work reporting requirements (SF 615) passed the Senate on Tuesday and House on Wednesday, and now heads to the Governor’s desk for signature. IHC opposes this legislation.
- SNAP food and beverage restrictions (HF 970) passed the House on Wednesday evening despite bipartisan opposition, and now heads to the Senate for consideration. This would still require a vote in subcommittee and committee before being eligible for floor debate in the Senate. IHC opposes this legislation, and instead supports a stand-alone Double Up Food Bucks appropriation, SF 232.
- The grocer reinvestment fund and produce processing grant bill (HF 550) passed out of an Appropriations subcommittee in the House on Wednesday with bipartisan support. The bill now awaits a full committee vote in the House Appropriations Committee. IHC supports this legislation.
- The Senate has not yet voted on SF 525, companion legislation to HF 851 (which passed the House last Wednesday, March 19). This bill seeks to waive federal nutrition requirements for school meals and instead have Iowa develop our own school meal standards to prioritize “animal-based protein, dairy, vegetables, and fruit” in that order, and completely cut out whole grain requirements. IHC opposes this legislation.
- Food donation liability protections for commercial truckers (SF 590) passed the Senate on Monday with unanimous support, was introduced in the House, referred to the Commerce Committee, and has been assigned a subcommittee of Rep. John Wills, Rep. Sean Bagniewski, and Rep. Shannon Lundgren. IHC is registered as “undecided” on this bill, as we believe it to be unnecessary and redundant with existing state and federal code.
- Recent announcements from USDA on the cancellation of funding for local food purchasing programs and food for food banks and pantries makes it all the more critical for Iowa to increase investment in the Choose Iowa Food Purchasing Pilot Program and make it a standing appropriation. This does not have a bill number, but advocates continue to push for this funding to be included in the state budget.
Advocacy actions you can take
Contact your Senator and urge them to:
- Vote NO on SF 525 (changing school nutrition standards)
- Support SF 232 (clean Double Up Food Bucks Appropriation), not HF 970 (SNAP food restrictions)
- Support increased investment in the Choose Iowa Food Purchasing Pilot Program and make it a standing appropriation
- Support the grocer reinvestment fund and produce processing grant (the Senate version of HF 550 is SSB 1054)
Contact your Representative and urge them to:
- Support increased investment in the Choose Iowa Food Purchasing Pilot Program and make it a standing appropriation
- Vote YES on HF 550 (grocer reinvestment fund and produce processing grant)
More details on legislative action this week
There was a lot of action this week in the Iowa legislature, and unfortunately most of it was bad news for anti-hunger advocates.
On Tuesday, the Iowa Senate passed SF 615 (formerly SF 599 and SF 363) on a party-line vote, which would enact strict work reporting requirements for Medicaid and align work requirements across public assistance programs, including SNAP. The bill then passed the Iowa House on Wednesday, with Republican Rep. Matthew Rinker, Rep. Brian Lohse, and Rep. Michael Bergan joining the Democrats in voting no.
Directly following that vote on Wednesday evening, the Iowa House proceed to vote on HF 970 (formerly HF 796 and HSB 216), which would impose sweeping restrictions on which food items people could purchase with SNAP benefits.
Rep. Rob Johnson offered an amendment to strike the language of the bill and replace it with the language of HF 920, a clean Double-Up Food Bucks appropriation that was co-sponsored by 33 House Republicans. A vote on the amendment failed.
Rep. Chad Ingels introduced an amendment that would strike Section 3 of the bill, eliminating the language that would make the Double Up Food Bucks appropriation included in Section 1 of the bill contingent upon Iowa receiving a waiver from USDA to restrict certain foods from SNAP. When it came up on the floor, Rep. Ingels withdrew his amendment, and it did not receive a vote.
The bill did receive an amendment with some minor changes to the bill language before coming up for a vote. All House Democrats were joined by eight House Republicans in voting no against HF 970: Rep. Jason Gearhart, Rep. Chad Ingels, Rep. Tom Jeneary, Rep. Shannon Latham, Rep. Brian Lohse, Rep. Mike Sexton, Rep. Devon Wood, and Rep. David Young.
Please send a note of thanks to all the Senators and Representatives who voted NO on SF 615, and all the Representatives who voted NO on HF 970.