SNAP eligibility expansion amended, advanced

A bill that would eliminate the state’s lifetime ban on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program eligibility for individuals with certain drug-related convictions was advanced from select file April 30 after being amended to include a substance abuse treatment requirement.

Current Nebraska law prohibits individuals from receiving SNAP benefits if they have one or more felony convictions involving the sale or distribution of a controlled substance or three or more felony convictions for use or possession.

An individual with one or two felony convictions for possession or use is eligible only if they participate in an approved substance abuse treatment program.

LB319, as introduced by Bellevue Sen. Victor Rountree, would remove the lifetime ban and participation in a treatment program as a condition of eligibility. The measure would allow individuals with felony drug convictions to receive SNAP benefits if they otherwise would qualify and have completed their sentence or are serving a term of parole, probation or post-release supervision.

Rountree offered an amendment during select file debate to replace the bill with a modified proposal. Under the amendment, any individual convicted of a felony for possession, use or distribution of a controlled substance would be SNAP eligible upon completion of their sentence, or while serving a term of parole, probation or post-release supervision.

An individual with three or more felony convictions for possession or use of a controlled substance would be eligible only after participating in an approved treatment program while incarcerated or on probation or parole following their most recent conviction.

An exception from mandatory substance abuse treatment could be granted on a case-by-case basis if a licensed health care practitioner determines that such treatment is not required.

Rountree said the amendment seeks to provide support to individuals who are struggling with addiction while also ensuring that those who may not require substance abuse treatment still have access to food assistance.

“This language allows a variety of options … so that each individual’s journey to recovery can fit into the law,” he said.

Lincoln Sen. Carolyn Bosn supported LB319 and the amendment. She said the withholding of SNAP benefits due to drug-related felonies not only impacts the banned individual but also their family.

Bosn said an individual with a felony drug conviction does not count toward the overall household size when determining SNAP eligibility, but their income is included in such determinations, which lowers the amount of food assistance their household can receive.

“Food should not be a punishment,” Bosn said. “Everyone else in the household is suffering by virtue of the fact that [they] have that prior conviction.”

Sen. Robert Dover of Norfolk also supported both the measure and Rountree’s amendment. He said an individual should not continue to be punished for the same crime after they have completed their sentence.

Opposing the proposal was Omaha Sen. Kathleen Kauth, who expressed concern over the bill “rewarding” individuals who have multiple drug convictions.

“If someone has three convictions, they haven’t really turned their world around,” she said. “At what point do we say no?”

Following the 32-14 adoption of Rountree’s amendment, senators voted 31-14 to advance the bill to final reading.