HLS 21RS-770 ORIGINAL
2021 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 31
BY REPRESENTATIVE MOORE
SNAP/FOOD STAMPS: Requests a study effort and annual reports concerning types of
foods and beverages purchased with SNAP benefits
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2To urge and request the Department of Children and Family Services and the office of
3 public health of the Louisiana Department of Health, jointly, to coordinate a study
4 of the types of foods and beverages purchased by beneficiaries of Louisiana's
5 Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and to report findings of the study
6 annually to the legislative committees on health and welfare.
7 WHEREAS, the program formerly known as "food stamps" was renamed the
8Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in 2008; and
9 WHEREAS, SNAP, which is administered in this state by the Department of
10Children and Family Services (DCFS), is the largest of all federal food assistance programs
11and provides support to needy households and to those making the transition from welfare
12to work; and
13 WHEREAS, SNAP benefits are financed entirely with federal funding; and
14 WHEREAS, per federal policy, SNAP benefits may be used only for the purchase
15of nonalcoholic beverages and, with very limited exceptions, none of which are in effect in
16Louisiana, food which is not hot at the point of sale; and
17 WHEREAS, in January of 2021, over four hundred seventy-seven thousand
18households comprising over nine hundred eighty-one thousand individuals received nutrition
19assistance through Louisiana's SNAP program; and
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HCR NO. 31
1 WHEREAS, SNAP is fundamentally a nutrition program, and advocates for people
2served by SNAP believe strongly in its potential to improve the health and well-being of
3program beneficiaries; and
4 WHEREAS, DCFS partners with the agricultural centers of Louisiana State
5University and Southern University to deliver educational services within SNAP through a
6program known as "SNAP Education" which is designed to teach food budgeting, proper
7nutrition, and healthy food choices to SNAP recipients; and
8 WHEREAS, R.S. 46:301 requires DCFS to submit to the legislature an annual report
9that addresses various aspects of the SNAP Education program; however, this law does not
10require that the report include any data on the particular types of foods and beverages which
11Louisiana SNAP recipients purchase with SNAP benefits, and the legislature currently has
12no access to such data; and
13 WHEREAS, data on the types of foods and beverages that Louisiana SNAP
14recipients purchase with their SNAP benefits would be invaluable to policymakers who are
15interested in potential reforms to federal and state nutrition policy that would help the
16children and families of our state to be healthy, strong, and vibrant.
17 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
18urge and request the Department of Children and Family Services and the office of public
19health, jointly, to coordinate a study of the types of foods and beverages purchased by
20beneficiaries of Louisiana's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
21 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that in coordinating the study, the Department of
22Children and Family Services and the office of public health shall engage, consult with, and
23obtain information and perspective from the following stakeholders:
24 (1) The director of the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center's SNAP
25Education program and any of his designees.
26 (2) The director of the Southern University Agricultural Center's SNAP Education
27program and any of his designees.
28 (3) The executive director of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center of
29Louisiana State University and any of his designees.
30 (4) The president of the Louisiana Retailers Association and any of his designees.
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HCR NO. 31
1 (5) The executive director of the Louisiana Beverage Association and any of his
2designees.
3 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that on or before February 1, 2022, and annually
4thereafter, the Department of Children and Family Services and the office of public health
5shall submit to the House Committee on Health and Welfare, the Senate Committee on
6Health and Welfare, and the David R. Poynter Legislative Research Library a report of
7findings from the study called for in this Resolution.
8 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Children and Family Services
9and the office of public health shall include in the reports called for in this Resolution
10recommendations for public policy reforms which would support better health and nutrition
11among the SNAP enrollees of this state.
12 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that legislative authority for the study effort called
13for in this Resolution shall terminate thirty days after final adjournment of the 2023 Regular
14Session.
15 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
16secretary of the Department of Children and Family Services, the secretary of the Louisiana
17Department of Health, the assistant secretary of the office of public health, the vice president
18of agriculture of the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, the chancellor-dean of
19the Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center, the executive director
20of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center of Louisiana State University, the president
21of the Louisiana Retailers Association, and the executive director of the Louisiana Beverage
22Association.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HCR 31 Original 2021 Regular Session Moore
Requests the Dept. of Children and Family Services and the office of public health, jointly,
to coordinate a study of the types of foods and beverages purchased by beneficiaries of
Louisiana's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Requests that these agencies
submit to the legislative committees on health and welfare two annual reports of findings
from the study. Provides that legislative authority for the study shall terminate 30 days after
final adjournment of the 2023 R.S.
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