Meeting Public Comments

Names and comments are public records. Remaining information is considered a confidential record.

Comments Submitted:

03-19-2025

Amy Shriver

Oppose HF 796 Contingent Funding for Double Up Food Bucks, Support HF 920I am writing to express my strong opposition to the contingency placed on funding for the Double Up Food Bucks (DUFB) program in HF 796. As a pediatrician in Iowa, I have been seeing more and more food insecurity in my clinic, and I know firsthand how critical it is for families to have reliable access to nutritious food. While DUFB has been an effective, evidencebased initiative that helps Iowa families stretch their SNAP dollars to purchase fresh produce, this bill unnecessarily ties its funding to USDA approval of sweeping food restrictions for SNAP recipients. These restrictions create barriers to healthy eating for many Iowans, including children and individuals with chronic health conditions who rely on SNAP for essential nutrition.HF 796 undermines the very goal of DUFBincreasing access to fresh, nutritious food for lowincome familiesby making its funding conditional on restrictive policies that would further limit food choices. The proposed changes to SNAP would harm rather than help Iowans, adding complexity and stigma to an already essential program. Iowas children need solutions like Double Up Food Bucks, but not ones that create barriers to accessing food.I urge lawmakers to instead support HF 920, which has bipartisan backing with 33 Republican sponsors and would fund Double Up Food Bucks without unnecessary contingencies. This is a commonsense solution that ensures Iowa families can continue to access fresh produce while avoiding punitive restrictions that disproportionately affect those in need.Healthy food access should not be used as a bargaining chip for restrictive policies that limit personal choice. Please prioritize evidencebased policies that support food security, nutrition, and public health by rejecting HF 796 and passing HF 920.Thank you for your time and consideration.Sincerely,Amy Shriver, MDGeneral Pediatrician in Des Moines

03-19-2025

Tiffany Welch

As a mom, community member, and tax payer, I urge a NO vote on HF 796. I fully support the appropriation for Double Up Food Bucks. Making that money contingent on USDA approving a waiver for sweeping food restrictions to SNAP will be extremely costly to our state and detrimental to lowincome Iowans. This bill doesn't specify how "healthy foods" will be defined and does not include a fiscal note to address the costs associated with HHS having to create a list of all of the tens of thousands of grocery items in the state that will and will not be considered healthy and made purchasable through SNAP.Instead, I encourage the support HF 920 which appropriates state investment in the Double Up Food Bucks program without these harmful regulations and has been sponsored by 33 House Republicans.

03-20-2025

Paige Chickering

I urge this committee to vote NO on HF 796 and instead support HF 920. Working on child hunger here in Iowa it is clear that our communities are facing levels of food insecurity we have not seen in years. Double Up Food Bucks helps families stretch their dollars further and afford the healthy foods they want to buy. We know that programs like Double Up Food Bucks are effective with a USDA study of a similar program showing that participants increased their fruit and vegetable consumption by 26%. Alternatively, a randomized trail testing the benefits of banning candy and soda from SNAP yielded no positive results on healthy eating. We know the Double Up program is effective. Rather than spending additional state funds to enact sweeping restrictions that will likely be ineffective in improving health, we should proceed with the appropriation for Double Up without these harmful regulations. Bring HF 920 forward and help low income families and children with healthy eating!Thank you, Paige