Missouri bill would alleviate SNAP hurdles for those with drug convictions
By Kendra Simpson
Two Missouri senators filed legislation on Wednesday to eliminate Missouri Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program bans on those with felony drug convictions.
The SNAP program helps thousands of Buchanan County residents every year with monthly benefits to buy food and food products.
In 2014, Missouri lawmakers passed legislation modifying the lifetime ban on SNAP benefits for those who have been previously convicted of felony drug offenses. However, with the several restrictions and limitations associated with the modification of the ban, many people are still unable to take advantage of the program.
In 2022, due to the restrictions, 163 people did not qualify for the program.
“We think this is a great idea to make some adjustments and tweaks, and that there should be a process to help individuals that are coming out of the prison system,” Second Harvest CEO Chad Higdon said. “There’s still those other requirements in place. There are still work requirements and there’s still other hurdles that you have to kind of work through to utilize SNAP benefits.”
A study conducted by the Collateral Consequences Resource Center pointed out that Missouri has “one of the nation’s most stringent bans for receiving SNAP benefits.”
In other states with the ban, thousands have been turned away from receiving SNAP benefits because of bureaucratic hurdles, such as paying for the drug test or providing official documentation of rehabilitation.
For those who have struggled with substance abuse in the past, these hurdles may not be so easily defeated.
“It’s going to help maybe those individuals that are really trying to do the right thing, get their life in order, make better decisions,” Higdon said. “When they need that kind of temporary assistance as they’re working to get on their feet …(we should) just be there to support them when it’s needed.
“Just to get individuals kind of on the same playing field seems like a good idea,” Higdon said.
The bill will be voted on later in the year.
