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Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Morrisey's request to change SNAP shows poor West Virginians lose when rich people represent us
Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced last week that the state sent a SNAP waiver request to the federal government asking to remove soda from being an eligible item under the program. (West Virginia Office of Gov. Patrick Morrisey video screenshot) 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. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
First state bans buying soda with food stamps through USDA waiver in win for MAHA movement
Nebraskans on the federal nutrition-assistance program known as food stamps will no longer be able to purchase soda or energy drinks with their benefits, after the U.S. Department of Agriculture accepted a waiver request from the state. The change is 'the first of its kind, and it is a historic step to Make America Healthy Again,' U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said in a statement on Monday of the change to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a federal benefit program for low-income people administered by individual states. 'There's absolutely zero reason for taxpayers to be subsidizing purchases of soda and energy drinks. SNAP is about helping families in need get healthy food into their diets, but there's nothing nutritious about the junk we're removing,' Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen, who requested the waiver in April, said in a statement. The change will take effect on January 1, 2026, impacting the roughly 150,000 Nebraskans on SNAP. Six other states — Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Indiana, Iowa, and West Virginia — have also shown interest in similar waivers, according to the Department of Agriculture. Iowa's request would also ban the purchases of snacks like kettle corn, fruit leather, and juice drinks with less than 50 percent juice, while Arkansas's waiver would seek to add rotisserie chicken to the list of allowed foods. Critics argued the change would do little to improve nutrition for Nebraska's poor, while adding compliance costs for stores that potentially could limit food options in rural areas for SNAP recipients. 'The average SNAP benefit in Nebraska is $5.82 per person per day – or less than $2 per meal,' Eric Savaiano, of the advocacy group Nebraska Appleseed, said in a statement. 'If we were serious about making Nebraskans healthier, we would give participants the resources they need to buy healthier, less cheap foods and incentivize healthier choices – not police their buying habits and embarrass them in public.' Despite the Trump administration's focus on public health under its promise to Make America Healthy Again, Republicans in Congress are considering a $230 billion cut to SNAP as part of their spending bill enshrining the president's signature first-term tax cuts. Overall, the budget plans under consideration would ultimately transfer wealth from the poorest 40 percent of Americans to the richest 1 percent through $4.5 trillion in tax cuts that would largely benefit the wealthy, along with $1.5 trillion in spending cuts, including to benefits for the public, including the poorest, according to an analysis by Yale University.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Nebraska first in nation to ban soda, energy drinks from public grocery aid benefits
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins at a stop in Nebraska Monday signed what she called a "historic" waiver to ban Nebraska recipients of SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) from using the public grocery aid to buy soda, soft drinks and energy drinks. (Courtesy of the U.S. Department of Agriculture) LINCOLN — Nebraska has become the first state in the nation to restrict low-income recipients of public grocery aid from using SNAP benefits to buy soda and energy drinks. The ban related to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program was announced Monday during a daylong visit to the Cornhusker state by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins. Rollins, accompanied by Gov. Jim Pillen on her three-stop tour, was following through on a request Pillen had made earlier. She said the waiver she signed while in Fremont was the first approved by the USDA. It becomes effective Jan. 1. Pillen, in a news conference last month, said he planned to submit a request for the federal waiver to remove the drink items he describes as unhealthy 'junk.' 'There's absolutely zero reason for taxpayers to be subsidizing purchases of soda and energy drinks,' said Pillen. Rollins called the move 'historic' and, in a statement, called Pillen a pioneer, along with the governors of six other states, in improving health in the nation. The waiver amends the definition of food products to be purchased by SNAP benefits, excluding soda, soft drinks, and energy drinks. 'Today's waiver to remove soda and energy drinks from SNAP is the first of its kind, and it is a historic step to Make America Healthy Again,' Rollins said, adopting the phrasing popularized by the Trump administration's Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Rollins' visit and approval of the move came the same day the Nebraska Legislature upheld a Pillen veto of a bill that sought to lift a lifetime ban on SNAP benefits for some Nebraskans with past drug felonies. Lawmakers back Pillen veto, kill bill to lift lifetime ban on food aid for some with drug pasts Both measures received instant criticism from nonprofits that work low-income families and inmates reentering their communities. Eric Savaiano, manager for food and nutrition access for Nebraska Appleseed, said SNAP is designed to 'maintain the dignity' of participants by helping low-paid people buy groceries. He called the latest SNAP ban 'poverty-shaming.' 'With the approval of this waiver, some of that dignity is stripped away,' Savaino said. About 150,000 Nebraskans, or about 7.5% of the state's population, participate in SNAP, including seniors, children, people with disabilities, working families and veterans. Nebraska Appleseed said the average SNAP benefit received in the state is about $5.82 per person per day. Savaiano, in a statement, said research shows SNAP recipients buy the same things as everyone else, including soda, soft drinks and energy drinks. 'By targeting just SNAP participants, we're poverty-shaming the most vulnerable among us and adding complications to an already complicated system.' He said carrying out the restriction would cause extra expenses to grocers, and he worried that could cause smaller stores to stop serving SNAP recipients altogether, and possibly shut off options in some rural areas. Pillen said SNAP is to help families in need get 'healthy food into their diets' and that there is 'nothing nutritious' about the drinks to be ruled out under the waiver. 'We have to act because we can't keep letting Nebraskans starve in the midst of plenty,' Pillen said. Also with Rollins and Pillen during the Nebraska ag tour was Sherry Vinton, director of Nebraska's Department of Agriculture and U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb. The group stopped at the Cargill Bioscience 650-acre facility in Blair, Wholestone Farms in Fremont and the Ohnoutka Family Farm in Valparaiso. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Nebraska Prenatal Plus Program, new Medicaid reimbursements take effect
Testifiers who supported the Nebraska Prenatal Plus Program after its hearing, from left: Marion Miner of the Nebraska Catholic Conference, Sara Howard of First Five Nebraska, Sarah Maresh of Nebraska Appleseed, Dr. Ann Anderson Barry of the Nebraska Perinatal Quality Improvement Collaborative, Sen. George Dungan, Chad Abresch senior adviser for CityMatCH and Scout Richters of the ACLU of Nebraska. Feb. 7, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner) LINCOLN — Medicaid-eligible pregnant mothers in Nebraska officially have access to new reimbursements for various prenatal services to help prevent low birth weights, preterm births and adverse birth outcomes. The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services announced Wednesday the full implementation of the Nebraska Prenatal Plus Program. The law, passed 45-0 in Legislative Bill 857 of 2024, was led by State Sen. George Dungan of Lincoln. Prenatal Plus mirrors similar successful programs in Colorado and Florida and is designed for at-risk mothers, as identified by their prenatal health care provider. Five services are provided and eligible for reimbursement under the Nebraska program: Up to six sessions of nutrition counseling. Psychosocial counseling and support. General client education and health promotion. Breastfeeding support. Targeted case management. At-risk mothers who are in the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) are currently not eligible for Nebraska Prenatal Plus, which was done in part to help reduce the fiscal impact of the law and get it over the finish line. Dungan said the program has been a long time coming and will benefit many people. He encouraged his colleagues to continue supporting the program, including its annual report on the number of mothers served, services offered and birth outcomes for each mother served. 'I'm just excited to see the program getting off the ground,' Dungan said Wednesday. Long term, the program is expected to reduce Medicaid costs because of upfront targeted care. Dungan said the goal is all about 'healthy moms and healthy babies.' 'I think we're going to see better educational outcomes. We're going to see better behavioral health outcomes,' Dungan said. 'All of these things can be tied back to being healthy at birth and in prenatal care.' The legislation had a broad array of support, including Nebraska Appleseed, ACLU of Nebraska, Nebraska Right to Life, Nebraska Catholic Conference, Nebraska State Board of Health, Nebraska Hospital Association and Nebraska Nurses Association. Dungan's LB 857 also included legislation from State Sen. Carolyn Bosn of Lincoln, LB 933, to require Medicaid to cover continuous glucose monitors for individuals with gestational diabetes. The Bosn-Dungan programs were estimated to cost $3.4 million in state cash funds and $5.5 million from the federal government in the first full fiscal year of operation. Former State Sen. Sara Howard, policy adviser for First Five Nebraska, a nonprofit that advocates for early childhood support and education, helped craft the Nebraska Prenatal Plus law. She said it was crucial for mothers and children and the state as a whole. 'The rollout of the Prenatal Plus Program represents an important step forward by offering a variety of supports to women throughout their pregnancies, ensuring better health outcomes for moms and babies statewide,' Howard said in a text. 'We are deeply grateful to Senator Dungan for his leadership and hard work to make Prenatal Plus a reality.' Starting Jan. 1, the state also began covering, for Medicaid-eligible mothers or their children, electronic personal-use breast pumps and at least 10 lactation consultation visits. Former State Sen. Jen Day of Omaha led those changes as part of LB 1215 last year. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
