CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A bill to end the lifetime ban on SNAP – food stamp – benefits for drug felons is expected to be taken up by the full House of Delegates this week.
A person wouldn’t know what HB 2459 does by reading it. It’s single sentence referring to federal code and exempting all state residents from that code.
Back on Friday, the House Judiciary Committee counsel explained that during the mid-1990s, during Welfare reform and drug war legislation, a provision slipped in banning all drug felons from receiving SNAP benefits for life.
As Delegate Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, pointed out, there’s no similar ban for other felons – murderers, rapists and so on.
But the federal code referenced in the bill – 21 U.S.C. §862a – allows states to opt out. A Department of Health and Human Resources spokeswoman said 25 states have done so; 23 others have eased the provision; West Virginia is one of only three states to retain the full ban.
Delegate Tom Fast, R-Fayette, proposed an amendment to continue the ban for two years after conviction, which sparked passionate opposition.
Greg Whittington, a convicted violent felon (and not subject to the ban) who served 15 years and now owns a business and works to help other released felons get on the right, path said those first two years are a critical time. Forcing drug felons trying to rehabilitate to struggle for food often only helps them slip back into their old ways and return to prison.
“You’re either going to help feed us or you’re going to continue to feed us,” he said.
Kayla Van Horn said her mother was convicted for possession of meth – not for selling or distributing it, but for being an addict. She’s clean now but a single mom still raising Kayla’s younger sister on a low-wage job.
Kayla’s sister is eligible for SNAP, but not her mother. That means her mom has to with less food than they need. “She struggles with it. She has to do without. … It would help her have a more sustainable life.”
Committee chair John Shott, R-Mercer, is sole sponsor and led opposition of the amendment. The bill is about the federal law’s fundamental unfairness, singling out one offense for extra punishment. “We ought to be offended that this continues in West Virginia. … We should be anxious to see these people get back on their feet.”
About half a dozen others also voiced opposition. Fast said he saw how the vote would go and withdrew his amendment. The unchanged bill then passed in a voice vote with one against; Fast voted for it.