HB 1425-FN - AS INTRODUCED
2016 SESSION
\t16-2207
\t05/01
HOUSE BILL\t1425-FN
AN ACT\trestricting the use of food stamps in convenience stores.
SPONSORS:\tRep. Leeman, Straf. 23
COMMITTEE:\tHealth, Human Services and Elderly Affairs
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ANALYSIS
\tThis bill restricts the use of foods stamps at convenience stores to the purchase of milk.
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Explanation:\tMatter added to current law appears in bold italics.
\t\tMatter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
\t\tMatter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
\t16-2207
\t05/01
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Sixteen
AN ACT\trestricting the use of food stamps in convenience stores.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
\t1 Duties of the Department of Health and Human Services; Use of Food Stamps at Convenience Stores Restricted. Amend RSA 161:2, XIII to read as follows:
\t\tXIII. Food Stamp Program. Develop and administer a food stamp program within the state under the provisions of the Federal Food Stamp Act of 1964, as amended, and in accordance with Federal Regulations duly promulgated by the United States Department of Agriculture and the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare; provided that food stamps may be used only for the purchase of milk at convenience stores and other retail establishments that are not primarily engaged in the sale of staple food items.
\t2 Federal Waiver Request. If the department of health and human services determines that implementation of section 1 requires a waiver from the United States Department of Agriculture, Food Nutrition Services (FNS), the department shall submit a request for a waiver on or before July 1, 2017.
\t3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2017.
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t16-2207
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t11/16/15
HB 1425-FN- FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT\trestricting the use of food stamps in convenience stores.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Department of Health and Human Services states this bill, as introduced, will have an indeterminable impact on state restricted revenues and expenditures in FY 2017 and each year thereafter. There will be no impact on county or local revenues or expenditures.
METHODOLOGY:
The Department of Health and Human Services states this bill limits food stamp purchases at convenience stores and other stores that do not primarily sell staple food items to milk only. The Department states that in order to accept food stamps for purchases, a retailer must be approved by the federal Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), and that relationships between food retailers and the food stamp programs are prescribed within binding contracts between the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the retailer. One of the steps in the USDA approval process is to prove that the retailer does sell staple foods in a variety of categories; the Department notes that the USDA does not sub-categorize approved retailers, and so there is no way to immediately determine which approved retailers are grocers, convenience stores, pharmacies, or other type of retailer. The Department further states that the bill imposes no penalty for inappropriate purchases, and assumes that it will leave enforcement of the bill's provisions to workers in retail establishments that identify themselves as convenience stores and other stores subject to the purchase limitations imposed by the bill. If enforcement is instead to be conducted by the Department, it will result in an indeterminable increase in state expenditures. Finally, the Department states there will be an indeterminable cost associated with educating recipients about allowable purchases at different retailer types. Since food stamp benefits are 100 percent federally funded, the bill's revenue impact, if any, would be in the form of reduced federal revenue to the state (and concomitant reduction in state expenditures) if the bill results in reduced use of and demand for food stamps.