Unintended Consequences: SNAP Benefits Now Include Rotisserie Chicken

John Fetterman, seemingly the only sane Democrat, had been pushing hard for this for weeks. And

House votes to allow rotisserie chicken food stamps purchases

The House voted to allow rotisserie chicken food stamp purchases on Thursday in an amendment to the broader farm bill.

The measure cleared the lower chamber with a vote of 384-35 with bipartisan support.

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funds have long been constrained to items that recipients can cook at home.

It now has to pass the Senate as part of a larger farm bill, because Congress apparently can’t just pass a simple bill anymore. So, who were the 35 who refused to vote for this? Well, let’s see

(Gothamist) House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries joined two other local (NY) Democrats on Thursday to vote against a bipartisan bill to ensure rotisserie chickens are covered by the federal food stamp program.

The House voted 384-35 to pass the legislation. Jeffries was among those who argued the bill wasn’t broad enough and should have allowed all hot food.

“SNAP recipients should be able to use their benefits to buy any hot or prepared food at the supermarket,” Jeffries spokesperson Andy Eichar said in a statement. “Leader Jeffries supports comprehensive legislation sponsored by Congresswoman Grace Meng that would modernize outdated policies to allow that to occur. We need full-scale reform, not simply a piecemeal exemption carved out to support a single industry.”

They always want to do something crazy. They’re actually pushing a Hot Foods Act for SNAP. Which could make sense. But, with the chicken, the problem there is that they are usually loss-leaders or sold at cost. You get one and then you shop and get a bunch of other stuff. Are you just stopping at the chicken, or, going back and getting some potato salad, macaroni salad, some lettuce and tomatoes, stuffing and gravy, etc? So, since the government is now going to pay for them, you could see the price skyrocket, just like with most stuff the government reimburses on. And, it may be harder to get them.

We’ll see. Other hot foods would make sense, since they are usually profit makers. However, you could see the prices there go up, too. Maybe we should look to see who is on SNAP. Stop giving it to illegals and people on visas, along with others who do not deserve it.