DES MOINES -- Iowa House lawmakers voted this week to appropriate money to a program that matches dollars provided by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for recipients to purchase more fruits and vegetables.
However, the appropriation would be contingent on the U.S. Department of Agriculture approving a waiver for exemptions that would strike certain food products from SNAP eligibility, which food accessibility advocates argue would limit access to food.
House File 970 was advanced Wednesday 56-40, with six Republicans joining Democrats in voting against it.
Under the legislation, $1 million in state funds would go to the Double Up Food Bucks program if the USDA approves the waiver allowing only "healthy food based on necessary nutrition for good health," including but not limited to healthy grains, dairy, meat, eggs, peanut butter and nuts, pasta, rice, legumes and fruits and vegetables.
The Double Up Food Bucks Program provides a 1-to-1 match to SNAP recipients to purchase fruits and vegetables. The program has been running since 2016, but it has received funding only through private donations so far.
If the legislation becomes law, the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services would determine what food products meet SNAP eligibility while working alongside doctors and nutritionists and stakeholders, according to the bill's sponsor, Republican Rep. Carter Nordman of Panora.
Nordman said tying the Double-Up Food Bucks funding to USDA waiver approval would encourage healthier eating habits by putting in "reasonable guardrails" to help combat Iowa's rates of obesity.
"House Republicans do not believe tax dollars should be purchasing things like Skittles and Monster energy drinks within a program that is supposed to help alleviate hunger," Nordman said. "These items have zero nutritional value and are a waste of taxpayer dollars."
Iowa currently ranks 11th in the nation for adult obesity, according to state data.
But multiple Democratic lawmakers, including Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, of Ames, said the proposed restrictions would further limit low-income families' ability to purchase food that fits their individual needs and diets.
"It is ridiculous to tell people what they should and should not eat," Wessel-Kroeschell said. "People eat based on special diets, family traditions, religious traditions, allergies, food sensitivities. We have no business micromanaging the diets of Iowans, and that's what this bill does."
Wessel-Kroeschell added that families with young children on SNAP need flexibility.
Currently 32 percent of SNAP recipients in Iowa were children, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services.
Democratic Rep. Rob Johnson, of Des Moines, proposed an amendment to take out the waiver requirement, which was rejected by Republicans for not being relevant to the bill.
"If we cut SNAP benefits, esteemed colleagues, we risk damaging Iowa's reputation as a place where families can thrive," Johnson said. "Are we going to cut and tell someone what they can and cannot eat, even though we talk about freedom?"
The average SNAP benefit for each household member per day in Iowa was $5.59 in 2024, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
In February, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee advanced legislation that would appropriate $1 million in state funds to the Double Up Food Bucks program.
Another bill was introduced in the House with 33 Republican cosponsors that would appropriate $1 million to the Double-Up Food Bucks Program without requiring acceptance of a USDA waiver, but the House did not take it up.