Gov. Jared Polis wants to prohibit Coloradans from using food-assistance benefits to purchase soda and other sugary drinks that are bad for their health.
But getting buy-in from other state leaders to put the ban in place now hinges on the governor’s broader plan for curbing soda drinking not just for low-income people, but for all Coloradans, starting with those attending taxpayer-funded events.
An executive order that will address sugary beverages and promote healthy eating statewide is expected soon, though the governor’s office has declined to reveal details. A Colorado Sun request for public records about the upcoming executive order, filed through the Colorado Open Records Act, turned up “no public records responsive” to the request, the governor’s office said.
But Michelle Barnes, the executive director of the Colorado Human Services Department, spilled the news during an intense debate March 6 among members of the nine-member, governor-appointed human services board about whether to ban the use of food stamps to purchase sugary beverages.
Barnes, who was told by her staff during the meeting that she wasn’t supposed to mention the upcoming executive order after she mentioned it, was trying to tell the human services board that the governor wasn’t just targeting people on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP; he wants to limit soda drinking more broadly.
“I don’t know if I can say this,” Barnes said. “The governor is working on an executive order that would take the SNAP restrictions and apply it to all state purchases. He’s looking to expand it throughout the state, so you can’t buy sugary beverages with taxpayer dollars, functions can’t have pop, functions can’t have diet pop.”
The governor’s cabinet, including leaders of the state departments of Agriculture and Health Care Policy and Financing, “have been persuaded” by the dialogue happening before the state human services board in the past couple of months about banning soda purchases, Barnes said. She said the executive order was nearly ready but was being reviewed by lawyers.
“You’re right, this does feel like we are only doing it to low-income people,” Barnes said. “So why wouldn’t we do it with all state purchases? We shouldn’t be buying it either.”
The board was so put off about enacting the restrictions only for “poor people” that after seven hours of debate and testimony at that March meeting, it pushed the vote to its April meeting, which is Friday. An executive order with strategies to limit sugary beverages statewide has not been announced in the meantime. And the vote on the change in SNAP rules was removed from this week’s board meeting.
“This sugar plague is affecting all of us and yet we are going after poor people,” board member John Kefalas, also a Larimer County commissioner, said at the March meeting.
The human services department has until Aug. 7 to bring the issue back up for a vote of the board, which sets rules for human services programs.
Polis, who sought and received approval from the federal government to ban the purchase of soda with food assistance, still supports the ban and said it’s part of a “broader strategy to improve the health of all Coloradans,” according to a statement from his office.
“SNAP supports the nutritional needs of families struggling to put food on the table,” the governor’s office wrote via email. About 330,000 households in Colorado receive the food-assistance benefits.
Colorado has also asked the federal government to allow people with SNAP to use it to buy prepared hot foods, including rotisserie chicken, and to make it easier to buy local produce at farmers markets. “I hope that Colorado can proceed with these important waivers to help reduce diabetes, obesity, and tooth decay,” Polis’ office said.
The upcoming executive order could include bans on sugary beverages at certain events or venues, and could promote sales of fresh foods grown by the state’s agriculture industry, according to people who are familiar with the planning process.
Officials at the state human services department said the agency “stands ready to deliver a comprehensive policy package” to the human services board at a later date.
Polis announced in August that he had won approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the “healthy choice” plan for SNAP. He needed the human services board to put the rules in place, but the board stalled after dozens of opponents, including 27 state lawmakers who are Democrats, argued the ban was an overreach that would harm the dignity and autonomy of low-income families.
The rule would prohibit the purchase of soda as well as juices with added sugars or artificial sweeteners.
Hunger Free Colorado was among the opponents of the ban and praised the delay. “The board listened to the community’s concerns and chose dignity over stigma, and access over restriction,” the group’s senior public policy manager, Mariah Guerrero, said in a news release.