Sodas and chips are displayed at a convenience store in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens in New York. As of this month, 12 states, mostly Republican and in the South, have opted to limit SNAP recipients from purchasing foods such as soda and candy. (Photo by Shalina Chatlani/ Stateline)
COLUMBIA — South Carolinians would no longer be able to buy candy, soft drinks and other sugary drinks with government grocery benefits under a proposal released Thursday.
The request by Gov. Henry McMaster is part of the Trump administration’s “make America healthy again” initiative, which invited states to apply for waivers that limit how people can use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps. A dozen other states have already received approval on their plans.
“This request is a light-touch, common-sense approach that ensures these federal taxpayer dollars are being used to help families purchase healthy, nutritious food – not unhealthy candy and sugary drinks,” McMaster said in a news release.
His executive order, issued Thursday, instructs the Department of Social Services to officially submit a request for the waiver within the next two weeks. If that application is rejected, the department should continue trying until the federal government accepts the state’s plan, McMaster said.
In South Carolina, items excluded should include energy drinks, candy bars and beverages sweetened with 5 grams or more of added sugar, such as ready-made lemonade, tea and sweetened coffee, according to the executive order.
Some senators attempted to add a similar restriction to the state budget, but it failed to get enough votes.
The specifics of what should or shouldn’t be excluded from purchase became a point of contention among senators. Some asked: Does honey count? What about granola bars, which often use honey to hold the other ingredients together? Or sports drinks, which contain helpful electrolytes along with sugar?
The governor’s plan specifies that granola bars could still be bought with SNAP benefits. So could juices, as long as they’re at least half natural fruit or vegetable juice with no added sweeteners. Sports drinks would also still be allowed, according to the news release.
It defines excluded energy drinks as beverages containing at least 65 milligrams of caffeine per 8 fluid ounces that are marketed as increasing mental or physical energy.
Sen. Tameika Isaac Devine, a Columbia Democrat, previously said she worried the change would disproportionately affect people who live in food deserts and may not have access to fresh fruit and vegetables.
“For people where their closest place to get food from is Dollar General, what would they be able to purchase with their benefits?” Devine asked during the budget debate.
When Gov. Nikki Haley made a similar move to restrict what SNAP benefits could buy in 2013, senators responded by adding a clause to the state budget that would prohibit the governor’s mansion from stocking junk food. (Haley changed her mind about the idea after receiving pushback in public meetings across the state.)
Sen. Darrell Jackson, a Columbia Democrat, repeated his proposal this time around.
“If it’s good for the poor people of Williamsburg County, it better be good for the people who live on Richland Street in the governor’s mansion,” Jackson said during the budget debate.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.