The Obama administration gave a cold shoulder to Gov. Paul LePage’s proposal to bar Mainers from spending food stamps on soda and candy. LePage “is optimistic the new administration will approve his revived proposal,” says The Associated Press, adding that lawmakers in Tennessee and Alabama are pursuing the same idea.
All of the initiatives are based on the argument that, with high U.S. obesity rates, the federal government should block people from using tax dollars to buy unhealthy foods. A USDA study suggests food-stamp recipients spend 5 cents of each dollar in benefits on soda and 2 cents on candy. LePage’s proposal, which needs USDA approval, would shuts down a nutrition-education program in Maine that is part of the food-stamp program so the roughly $4 million a year could be sent to food banks, schools and community organizations, says the Portland Press Herald.
LePage threatened to stop state administration of the food-stamp program last year after USDA expressed serious doubts about the proposal to deny coverage of soda and candy. The governor failed to persuade legislators in earlier attempts to restrict the items eligible for food stamps. He has taken other steps to limit enrollment in the program.