Posted on 05/20/2015 4:17:11 PM PDT by upchuck
Wisconsin’s State Assembly approved legislation last week that puts in place new rules about what recipients of food stamps may purchase with the benefits.
Assembly Bill 177 would limit the types of food that could be purchased with Wisconsin’s food stamp program, FoodShare.
In addition to banning the purchase of foods such as lobster with the publicly-funded program, the legislation would also require that just over two-thirds of the benefits be used to purchase healthy foods:
“Under this bill, DHS [Department of Health Services] must require that not less than 67 percent of the SNAP benefits used by a recipient in a month be used to purchase any of the following foods: foods that are on the list of foods authorized for the federal special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children (WIC foods); beef; pork; chicken; fish; fresh produce; and fresh, frozen, and canned white potatoes. In addition, DHS must prohibit using SNAP benefits for the purchase of crab, lobster, shrimp, or any other shellfish.”
The bill was passed in a 60-35 vote.
Supporters say the measure is fiscally responsible and encourages healthy eating, while opponents say that limiting the types of food that can be purchased places additional hardship on those receiving aid.
“A lot of people, an awful lot of people who are on FoodShare are also on BadgerCare, so there is a direct financial benefit not just to the individual, which of course is obvious to have better health, but also to state taxpayers and society as a whole,” Rep. Robin Vos, R-Rochester, told the Associated Press.
“It’s a restriction that’s designed just to make the lives of those that are already struggling that much harder,” Rep. Lisa Subeck, D-Madison, told The Capital Times. “And instead, we should be focusing not on the foods people buy but on putting people to work by creating jobs that get people off of FoodShare.”
Rachel Sheffield, a policy analyst for The Heritage Foundation’s DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society, said that the “food stamps program is in serious need of reform.”
“Most importantly food stamps should include a work requirement that requires able-bodied adults to work, prepare for work or look for work in exchange for receiving assistance,” said Sheffield.
The bill will go on to the state Senate for approval. The AP reports that the Wisconsin Senate declined to take up a similar bill last year.
What a novel idea! Good for God, so it must be good for society, except for the bureaucrats whose check depends on those that do not work to continue getting checks for not working.
It gets worse than that....
So, dippy broad democRAT...what policies has YOUR party enacted to create the very jobs you lament as being unavailable?
I'm still waiting to hear from you babe...
I have yet to meet anyone using Link food benefits that was allowed to buy alcoholic beverages with it. Sounds like a strawman to me.
Great idea. I hope they pass it.
Alcohol is already prohibited.
Some places have done “workfare” but again the result is often overloaded bureaucracies.
Most people would have more sympathy now than in GWB’s day just because Barack Obama has torpedoed so much American business.
There needs to be motivation to get OFF entitlements like this—not encourage it! Thus, make it adequate, but not an appealing way of life.
Exactly.
Other states already have such limits, and they don’t seem to have much trouble administering it.
What new bureaucracy is that?
BULL!! I purchased liquor in a store in Ohio, and the register was configured to accommodate such cards. I questioned the clerk, and he through his hands up.
How is it a boom to BUREAUCRACY ???
The burden to set up the systems to comply will fall to the retailers...
It really pretty simple, at the check out SNAP program customers will be billed to a certain percentage of allowable items, the rest will fall into "you pay for it" portion of the receipt.
They will eventually learn how to shop better and within the SNAP guidelines, as they do now ...
It's really a retailer problem, not the government problem
You are comparing apples to oranges ( both of which should be able to be purchased with food stamps, by the way ).
If food stamp recipients do not want limits placed on the food they buy, then they should get off food stamps and earn the money they use to purchase their food.
If you are taking money from other peoples’ pockets, then those people have the right to put limits on how you use that money.
See #50.
Alcohol, pop, candy are not paid for on a Link card. I don’t know about this liquor store of yours.
What? No sodas, no chips?
Why go through all the extra administrative expense? They should have to live just like the rest of us do. There is a certain amount of $$ for groceries per month. You can eat steak & lobster a couple of days and ramen noodles the rest of the month or shop frugally.
We already feed their children 2 meals a day at school. That’s more than we get.
Who cares what they eat? When the grocery money is gone it’s gone. Unless the government thinks that poor people are just dumber than the rest of us.
Easy, just use Moochelle’s school lunch guidelines to determine what they can buy.
Idiots.
Seafood is healthy for you and doesn’t make you gain a lot of weight.
Buying it frozen can be a good deal.
If Mooshell can dictate the food served to school schools, certainly WI legislators can do the same. At least they are elected.
Now wouldn’t that be a nice eye-opener for the LIVs.
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