RTS ALERT: HB2211 Food Assistance Reduces Recidivism & Helps Families
LAMA is supporting this bill at Lutheran Day at the Legislature
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) helps Arizonans who are struggling to make ends meet to put food on the table. It is the country's most effective anti-hunger program. In 1996, federal law enacted a lifetime ban on SNAP participation for individuals convicted of felony drug offenses, but states had discretion to opt out or modify this rule. Arizona modified it in 2017, and it’s time to fully restore access to those who have served their time.
Current state law applies additional eligibility requirements to people with prior drug felony convictions. HB2211 requires that drug offenders comply with probation, including drug testing, as applicable, to be eligible for SNAP. It eliminates the need for an individual to be somehow involved in a substance abuse treatment program, which is costly and burdensome to verify, and potentially unnecessary for offenses from years ago. Individuals still have to meet all SNAP eligibility requirements related to income and assets.
Access to SNAP reduces recidivism. Arizonans who have spent time in prison require strong social and economic supports to successfully re-enter society. SNAP helps them survive as they go through the difficult process of seeking housing and employment. Drug offenders that are eligible for SNAP at release are 13 percent less likely to reoffend in the year following release.*
Please sign on in support of the bill! If you have an account with the AZ Legislature’s Request-to-Speak (RTS) system, the steps to sign-on in support are below. If you don’t have an RTS account, you can sign up for one here: https://lamaz.org/request-to-speak.
How to support our bill through the Request-to-Speak System
Sign into your RTS account at this link: https://apps.azleg.gov/Account/SignOn and click "Request to Speak."
Click on the "New Request" tab on the left.
In the “Search Phrase” bar, type HB2211, then hit search.
The bill should appear below: “HB2211 - supplemental nutrition assistance program; eligibility”
Click the blue "Add request" tab on the right.
FINALLY, you'll be able to click the green thumbs up button to indicate you are "for" the bill – hooray!
Select “No,” you do not wish to speak to the committee directly. You may add publicly-visible comments in the box if you wish, but it's not required.
Click submit and you're done.
THANK YOU!