Morrisey's request to change SNAP shows poor West Virginians lose when rich people represent us
It's honestly like West Virginia's leaders have no idea who West Virginians are, or can't remember where they came from.
I guess being rich, coming from a family of politicians or being from New Jersey could be the reason for some of that.
West Virginia is one of the 10 poorest states in the nation. We rely heavily on federal funding for our state budget. But instead of working to lift people out of poverty, our state government and our congressional delegation is following the lead of President Donald Trump and making things worse.
Last week, Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced that he formally asked the federal government to disallow the state's food assistance program from paying for soda.
'For a long time I've talked about the fact that SNAP — the N should stand for nutrition,' Morrisey said in his video announcement. Well, it does stand for nutrition — the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Indiana and Nebraska became the first states in the nation to ban soda and energy drinks from public grocery aid benefits, such as SNAP. The United States Department of Agriculture approved the states' requests last week, and both will go into effect Jan. 1, 2026.
The SNAP program is meant to 'maintain the dignity' of participants by helping them buy groceries, said Eric Savaiano, manager for food and nutrition access for Nebraska Appleseed. He called the latest SNAP ban 'poverty-shaming.'
'With the approval of this waiver, some of that dignity is stripped away,' Savaiano said.
Poverty-shaming is the perfect description of this bill, and others the West Virginia Legislature wanted to pass this past session.
Lawmakers tried to ban SNAP recipients from using their benefits to buy soft drinks and candy, but that bill never made it out of the House of Delegates.
The state Senate tried to pass a bill that would have expanded work and training requirements for SNAP recipients.
'We know from lots of studies, including some of our own, that mandating work reporting requirements disconnects people from access to food, but does not connect them to work,' said Rhonda Rogombé, health and safety policy analyst for the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy.
She said the bill, which died in House Finance, would have put pressure on the state's food banks, which would have been tasked with filling in the gaps for people who lost SNAP benefits because of work requirements.
Meanwhile the Trump administration is ending the USDA's Local Food Purchase Assistance program that gave states federal funding to stock food pantries from local farms.
The Ohio Association of Foodbanks sent out an email to farmers announcing the program is being cut, and attached a notice from the USDA, which said that the Trump administration had 'determined this agreement no longer effectuates agency priorities and that termination of the award is appropriate.'
The Local Food Purchase Assistance Program authorized $900 million worth of locally raised produce for food banks. It will end on June 30.
On top of that, the U.S. House of Representatives last week approved the Trump administration's 'big, beautiful bill,' which is actually pretty ugly and will be devastating to those who use SNAP or Medicaid.
More than 500,000 West Virginians rely on Medicaid or Children's Health Insurance Program, and about 277,000 — or one in six — residents use SNAP benefits to get access to food. Kelly Allen, executive director of the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, said the bill 'feels like a really bad deal for West Virginians.'
The bill — which must still pass the U.S. Senate and be signed by President Donald Trump before becoming law — will shift some of the cost of SNAP to state governments.
Keep in mind, Morrisey has said he's expecting a $400 million deficit beginning next fiscal year (something other state lawmakers have denied), and in 2022, more than 45% of the state's total revenue came from federal grants, according to an analysis from Pew Charitable Trusts.
The 'big, beautiful bill' will also make deep cuts to Medicaid, reducing the program by $625 billion over 10 years.
And what does West Virginia's representation in Washington, D.C. have to say about the passage of this bill?
'This legislation will undoubtedly make the life of the average American better, and I am proud to support it on the House floor and help get it to President Trump's desk,' Rep. Carol Miller said. 'I urge my colleagues to do the same.'
Miller is a millionaire. Her husband owns five car dealerships and has a stake in a real estate company.
Rich West Virginians aren't living the same lives as the rest of us. When we don't pay our bills, we don't win a seat in the Senate like Sen. Jim Justice. We instead don't eat, have our utilities turned off, go without medicine or lose our homes.
Maybe it's not in our best interest to keep electing politicians who don't know how the average West Virginian lives.
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