The Trump administration has encouraged states to submit the waivers amid a push to make America healthy.
Four Republican states are urging the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to let them ban soda, energy drinks, and candy from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a spokesperson confirmed on April 24.
The governors of Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, and Nebraska submitted requests to the agency for waivers that would allow such a ban, the spokesperson said.
Copies of the waivers have not yet been made available.
It comes shortly after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins signaled they are in favor of stripping such treats from the food stamp program.
SNAP is a federal program that helps more than 42 million low-income Americans pay for food each month.
According to the USDA, SNAP benefits can be used to purchase foods including fruits and vegetables, meat, poultry, and fish, dairy products, breads and cereals, and “other foods such as snack foods and non-alcoholic beverages.”
They can also be used to buy seeds and plants that produce food for the household to eat.
They must not be used to buy beer, wine, liquor, cigarettes, tobacco, pet food, cleaning supplies, or foods that are hot at the point of sale.
Arkansas wants to ban soda and candy from the program and include hot rotisserie chicken, according to an April 15 statement.
“President Trump and his administration have put a laser focus on solving America’s chronic disease epidemic and reforming our food stamp program is a great place to start,” Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said.
“Banning soda and candy from food stamps will remove some of the least-healthy, most-processed foods from the program and encourage low-income Arkansans to eat better.”
Indiana hopes to remove candy and soft drinks from SNAP benefits, with Indiana Gov. Mike Braun signing an executive order banning them “so that taxpayer funds are helping low income Americans afford nutritious food, not junk.”
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen sent a letter of intent to Rollins on April 7 notifying her of the state’s intent to pursue a waiver removing soda and energy drinks from SNAP allowable purchases.
