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Chairman Roberts: Concerns Remain with Final SNAP Rule

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., today released the following statement after the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service released its final rule on eligibility requirements for retailers participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

“After a thorough review of the nearly 100-page finalized SNAP rule, I’m pleased that USDA listened to my concerns, echoed by nearly half the United States Senate. However, businesses that serve Kansas and rural America need more clarity than is found in this finalized rule. Though many of the onerous requirements for retailers were addressed in the rule, USDA continues to display a lack of understanding of the complexity of the requirements and a disregard for the difficulty local businesses will face implementing this rule.”

“I look forward to continuing to work with USDA to make sure SNAP recipients have access to nutritious food, and our businesses in rural America are not harmed by the heavy hand of federal government regulation.”

In August, a bipartisan group of 47 Senators sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), expressing concerns with the Agency’s controversial proposed rule on retailer eligibility requirements in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

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