AUSTIN, Texas — New restrictions on what Texans can buy with SNAP benefits are creating confusion at grocery stores and could end up costing some Central Texas families more money, advocates and researchers say.
Texas Senate Bill 379, which changed SNAP purchasing rules, went into effect April 1. Under the new law, SNAP recipients are restricted from using benefits to buy items such as candy, gum and sweetened drinks.
Gina Plata-Nino, director of SNAP policy at the Food Research and Action Center, said the changes make it harder for people who rely on the program to meet basic needs.
“SNAP program is supposed to address hunger. The worst health outcome is hunger,” Plata-Nino said.
Plata-Nino said the restrictions can ripple beyond the checkout line, affecting household budgets and stability.
“It’s the difference between them not being able to pay the rent and then getting evicted and then having a harder time or losing their child care slot because they couldn’t pay things on time,” she said.
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Plata-Nino said the rollout has also created challenges for stores that accept SNAP, adding complexity that could push some retailers to leave the program.
“What it’s causing is a lot of confusion among retailers who are thinking about stepping away from the program because it’s so difficult to administer,” she said.
If fewer retailers participate, she said, recipients may have to travel farther to find a store where their benefits are accepted. That can increase costs for consumers, she said.
“it just increases their costs because they may unintendedly cut other items that would have been eligible,” Plata-Nino said.
Joshua Blank, research director for the Texas Politics Project, said Texas voters are already concerned about prices of things like gasoline ad groceries.
“Anything that’s going to impact their purchasing decisions, whether positively or negatively, is likely to have a bigger impact at the current moment than at any other point in time,” Blank said.
Texas Health and Human Services said on April 1, when SB 379 went into effect, that, it hopes “these changes will support healthier food and drink choices for Texans and help build stronger communities.” The agency also told CBS Austin that a survey was sent out in February with the goal of finding out the impact of the SNAP restrictions.
Plata-Nino disputed the premise behind the restrictions.
“This isn’t really about health or helping individuals,” she said.
Feeding Texas CEO Celia Cole said they are awaiting the results of the survey but said, “It’s important to know that nothing in the state survey will get at the real question of whether these restrictions are improving health outcomes— which is the purported goal of these restrictions.”
Plata-Nino said the changes are affecting low-income workers. “The effects is that low-income working Americans who are really suffering,” she said.
The Central Texas Food Bank said it is not seeing any change at this time in the number of recipients coming to the food bank.