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Yesterday, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed Senate File 494 into law. The Iowa Hunger Coalition, along with a broad coalition of advocates and groups, has been opposed to this legislation from the start, and had called on Gov. Reynolds to veto SF 494. We are disappointed in the decision by Gov. Reynolds to sign SF 494 into law, but not surprised.

The simple fact is SF 494 will remove thousands of Iowans from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The additional administrative hurdles contained in SF 494, including an asset test for SNAP, will create more barriers for struggling Iowans trying to access assistance.

SNAP enrollment in Iowa is nearing a 15-year low. Meanwhile, food banks, food pantries, and other anti-hunger organizations across the state are seeing record-breaking numbers of people turning to them for assistance. Clearly, SNAP is already inaccessible to tens of thousands of Iowans facing food insecurity. Instead of improving access to nutrition benefits, Iowa’s leaders have chosen to target SNAP and other public assistance programs Iowans rely on.

It is not lost on us that, on the day before signing SF 494, Gov. Reynolds announced $5 million in federal funds from the American Rescue Plan to support food bank infrastructure in Iowa. As the Governor rightfully stated in the accompanying release, “access to fresh foods is a challenge for those facing food insecurity and soaring inflation has made it even harder.”

We dispute, however, the Governor’s assertion that “Iowa is making long-term investments to reduce food insecurity in our communities.” Make no mistake: this one-time $5 million investment of federal funds to Iowa’s food banks will not make up for the upwards of $18 million estimated to be denied in SNAP benefits to Iowans on an annual basis as a result of SF 494. SNAP is the best tool we have in the fight against food insecurity, and private charity is not a replacement for social safety net programs.

To top it off, the bipartisan federal debt ceiling deal is poised to expand SNAP work requirements to adults age 50-54. It is estimated this will kick 9,000 older Iowans off the program. Research on work requirements has shown that they do not lead people to meaningful employment, but instead remove people from SNAP who cannot meet the requirement and leave them worse-off than they were before.

These policy changes will harm Iowa and increase hunger and food insecurity in our state. Thousands of Iowans will be negatively impacted by the actions of our state and federal government. Too many Iowans are struggling right now. Increased costs for essentials like food, housing, and health care still outpace wages. As a state, we should be coming together to make sure all our neighbors have the food they need to live and thrive. Instead, these attacks on SNAP will take food off the tables of Iowans.

Over the Memorial Day weekend, news came out of a prospective agreement reached between President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy to raise the federal government’s borrowing limit before possible default on June 5. The budget deal includes a number of harmful provisions, including expanding work requirements for SNAP.

What exactly would the bill change?
People classified as Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWDs) are limited to only receiving three months of SNAP benefits every three years unless they are working an average of 20 hours per week. These are adults age 18-49 who do not have children in the household and are physically and mentally able to work.

The debt ceiling bill would expand those work requirements to adults age 50-54 over the course of two years. It would also disallow states from carrying over ABAWD exemptions from year to year (which is not current practice in Iowa). The bill would also provide new exemptions from the ABAWD work requirement to homeless individuals, veterans, and young adults exiting the foster care system.

What would be the impact on Iowans?
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that 9,000 Iowans would lose access to SNAP due to the new work requirements. By definition, these would be adults age 50-54 without children in the household.

The research is clear: work requirements do not lead people to find meaningful employment, they simply remove people from SNAP who cannot meet them, leaving them worse off. A recent study found that the ABAWD time limit cuts SNAP participation to those subject to it by more than half – with no effects on employment and earnings.

And we have yet to see if SF 494 will be signed into law, further restricting access to SNAP for Iowans. Meanwhile, our emergency food system is hanging on by a thread, continuing to face record numbers of people seeking assistance, with demand continuing to outpace resources.

What can you do?
You can contact your members on Congress and urge them to pass a debt ceiling bill that does not include expanding work requirements for SNAP.

Sen. Chuck Grassley – Contact Here

Sen. Joni Ernst – Contact Here

1st Congressional District – Rep. Marianette Miller-Meeks – Contact Here

2nd Congressional District – Rep. Ashley Hinson – Contact Here

3rd Congressional District – Rep. Zach Nunn – Contact Here

4th Congressional District – Rep. Randy Feenstra – Contact Here

This week, the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on Speaker McCarthy’s “Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023.” This is also known as the debt limit bill. House Republicans are threatening not to raise the nation’s debt ceiling if the bill does not pass. WATCH: The Debt Limit Explained.

Among other provisions in the bill, the legislation would impose stricter work requirements for people age 50-55 to access SNAP. Currently this rule only applies to able-bodied adults without dependents between the ages of 18 and 49. There is also an amendment to increase the number of hours to meet this work requirement from 20 hours/week to 30 hours/week.

Research has shown that SNAP work requirements reduce the number of people participating in SNAP but do not improve employment. SNAP work requirements are associated with higher instances of mood disorders and anxiety for people subject to them. In other words, they kick people off SNAP, do not lead people to finding employment, and result in negative physical and mental health outcomes.

Please contact your US House Representative today and urge them to pass a clean debt ceiling hike – not add stricter work requirements for SNAP.

1st Congressional District – Rep. Marianette Miller-Meeks – Contact Here

2nd Congressional District – Rep. Ashley Hinson – Contact Here

3rd Congressional District – Rep. Zach Nunn – Contact Here

4th Congressional District – Rep. Randy Feenstra – Contact Here

Advocates of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will be holding a press conference Tuesday, April 18, at 10:30am in the Iowa State Capitol (south end of the Capitol Rotunda). This is a final plea to Governor Kim Reynolds to veto Senate File 494 – which would kick thousands of Iowans off SNAP and other public assistance programs.

On Thursday, April 13, SF 494 passed the Iowa House without amendment with a vote of 58-41 after nearly four hours of floor debate and 18 proposed amendments. The bill now moves to the Governor’s desk for signature.

Community advocates have voiced concerns that Iowans will lose access to SNAP and other public assistance programs due to the added administrative hurdles from SF 494. This bill would have an immediate downstream effect as people will turn to food banks and food pantries that are seeing record numbers across the state.

SNAP enrollment in Iowa is currently at a 14-year low while fraud committed by individuals enrolled in SNAP remains at a fraction of a percentile of the ~270,000 active participants in the state. This bill will increase administrative costs by millions and will also establish a third-party vendor to institute administrative oversight that will profit from it all.

Establishing an asset test and additional eligibility verification checks would remove people from the program who struggle to meet the new requirements and discourage people from applying for public assistance programs like SNAP.

Advocates encourage members of the public to contact Gov. Reynold’s office and ask her to veto SF 494.

Thank you to everyone who attended today’s public hearing on eSF 494, submitted a public comment, and helped spread the word about the public hearing and the harm that SF 494 would cause. We are nothing without our advocates, and that means YOU! Thank you for your tireless work in opposing the bad SNAP legislation we’ve seen introduced this session.

If you missed today’s public hearing, you can watch it online below.

You can also watch a video recording of a press conference the Iowa Hunger Coalition held following the public hearing with the Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO and Save the Children Action Network to highlight the voices of people who would be directly impacted by SF 494. A special thank you goes out to Briana Jenkins for organizing this press conference!

What Comes Next?

SF 494 is now eligible for floor debate and a vote in the House. This could happen as early as next week. It’s vital we reach out to ALL members of the Iowa House and share our concerns with SF 494.

Please contact your Representative and share your concerns with them about SF 494! You can also contact Speaker Pat Grassley and House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl to ask them not to bring SF 494 to a vote in the House.

You can also write a letter to the editor or guest opinion column to your local newspaper. Legislators pay attention to these, and it’s another way to get the word out in your community about the harm that SF 494 would cause. We’re always happy to help provide talking points and advice for writing these, so reach out to us at iowahungercoalition@gmail.com if you’d like our help!

This morning, SF 494 narrowly passed the Iowa House Appropriations Committee on a 13-11-1 vote. Three Republicans (Rep. Michael Bergan, Rep. Brian Lohse, and Rep. David Young) joined Democrats in voting “No” on SF 494. One Democrat was absent, Rep. Tracy Ehlert, who had previously opposed the measure in subcommittee and is assumed would have cast a “No” vote as well, which would have brought the vote total to 13-12.

It was also announced at today’s House Appropriations Committee that there will be a public hearing on SF 494 before it can be brought to the House floor for a vote. The public hearing will happen sometime next week, though we do not have a date or time for it yet. We will receive at least 24 hour notice, and will be sure to get the word out as soon as it’s scheduled!

All in all, today could have gone at lot worse, and right now, we’re feeling really energized and hopeful. The public hearing next week will be absolutely crucial in stopping this bill. If the House were to pass SF 494 as written, it would head to the Governor’s desk for signature.

We need to have a strong showing at the public hearing, so please start spreading the word and preparing comments and testimony. We’ll let you know as soon as the hearing is scheduled.

Thank you for your ongoing advocacy!

An appropriations subcommittee meeting for House File 613 has been scheduled for tomorrow (Tuesday, March 28) at 10:00am.

Please contact the House members on this subcommittee ASAP and tell them why HF 613 is a step in the wrong direction for Iowa!

• Rep. Joel Fry – joel.fry@legis.iowa.gov
• Rep. Tracy Ehlert – tracy.ehlert@legis.iowa.gov
• Rep. Heather Matson – heather.matson@legis.iowa.gov
• Rep. Ann Meyer – ann.meyer@legis.iowa.gov
• Rep. Henry Stone – henry.stone@legis.iowa.gov

Here’s some of the latest SNAP statistics from February 2023 on the areas these legislators represent:

• In counties fully or partially represented by Rep. Joel Fry (Clarke, Decatur, Lucas, and Wayne), the number of SNAP participants is at an 18-year low. 9.2% of the population receives SNAP (2,990 individuals), and the average per-meal benefit is $1.68. SNAP benefits generated an estimated $695,016 in economic impact in these counties in February.
• In Linn County, portions of which are represented by Rep. Tracy Ehlert, the number of SNAP participants is at a 14-year low. 9.2% of the population receives SNAP (21,062 individuals), and the average per-meal benefit is $1.81. SNAP benefits generated an estimated $5.3 million in economic impact in Linn County in February alone.
• In Polk County, portions of which are represented by Rep. Heather Matson, the number of SNAP participants is at a 13-year low. 10.3% of the population receives SNAP (50,623 individuals), and the average per-meal benefit is $1.85. SNAP benefits generated an estimated $13.0 million in economic impact in Polk County in February.
• In Webster County, portions of which are represented by Rep. Ann Meyer, the number of SNAP participants is at a 14-year low. 11.9% of the population receives SNAP (4,387 individuals), and the average per-meal benefit is $1.81. SNAP benefits generated an estimated $1.1 million in Webster County in February.
• In counties fully or partially represented by Rep. Henry Stone (Emmet, Kossuth, and Winnebago), the number of SNAP participants has recently seen an uptick, but is still below pre-pandemic levels. 6.8% of the population receives SNAP (2,336 individuals), and the average per-meal benefit is $1.72. SNAP benefits generated an estimated $557,004 in economic impact in these counties in February.

You can also submit a public comment online, but we do recommend reaching out directly to legislators, as public comments are not guaranteed to be read.

We still have not seen a fiscal note for HF 613, but the fiscal note for SF 494, a similar but more limited bill, would spend millions of dollars and hire hundreds of new employees – and no savings would be seen from SNAP. The fiscal note for HF 613 is sure to be even more costly, given the added piece the House bill contains that are not in the Senate’s version.