The National Grocers Association (NGA) commended members of Congress on their decision to safeguard the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in the FY 2025 agriculture appropriations bill by removing a provision that NGA said would have negatively impacted retailers and undermined SNAP’s effectiveness.
A proposal dropped from the final bill would have created a five-state pilot to limit the types of foods covered under SNAP, forcing grocers to examine hundreds of thousands of food items to determine which qualify. The proposed program would have allowed five state governments to pick winners and losers in the grocery sector, harming the 42 million SNAP participants with diverse nutritional needs, said NGA.
“Fortunately, members of Congress realized that a proposal that looked simple on paper would have created confusion for program participants and resulted in a costly bureaucratic nightmare for small businesses around this country,” said Stephanie Johnson, RDN, NGA VP of government relations, in a statement. “The strength of SNAP lies in its efficient and flexible design. We are proud to support the continuation of an effective and impactful program for families and local economies.” NGA also said it is pleased to see that the Senate passed an agriculture appropriations bill without any new restrictions on SNAP purchases. (SFA)
