NGA Applauds Congress for Protecting SNAP

The National Grocers Association said Monday that it supports Congress’ decision to protect grocers and SNAP participants in the FY 2024 agriculture appropriations bill by eliminating a provision that could have caused disruptions and undercut SNAP’s effectiveness.

A proposal dropped from the final bill would have limited the types of foods covered under SNAP, and forced grocers to examine hundreds of thousands of food items to decide which qualify and which don’t, according to the NGA.

“Fortunately, members of Congress realized 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 is within its efficient and flexible design. We are proud to support the continuation of an effective and impactful program for families and local economies.”

Last month, NGA, along with independent community grocers, wrote a letter to Congress in opposition to the SNAP purchase restrictions. NGA alleged the bill would have created a pilot program to catalog and restrict SNAP purchases and collect SNAP purchasing data to eventually restrict SNAP purchases.

“The proposed pilot program would have asked the government to pick winners and losers in the grocery sector and harmed the 42 million SNAP participants who have diverse nutritional needs,” said the NGA in a statement.