Along with continued debate on the use of cash reserve funds and second-round debate on a measure to cut income taxes, Tuesday’s legislative agenda includes LB 121, which would end Nebraska’s lifetime ban on federal food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for people convicted of certain drug felonies.
This bill would help provide food security for some of Nebraska’s most vulnerable families, create a bridge to self-sufficiency and promote a safer, more equitable state.
Preventing access to nutritional assistance doesn’t just affect the previously incarcerated, it spreads to the livelihood of their families. Approximately one in ten children in Nebraska have a parent who is incarcerated.
While families are still eligible to receive SNAP when a member is banned, the banned individual’s income still counts toward the household and results in fewer SNAP benefits for the household. A 2018 University of Maryland study showed that depriving individuals with drug felony convictions access to SNAP in Florida increased their rate of recidivism by approximately 9.5%.[1] Given Nebraska’s recidivism rate (30.3%),[2] cost of incarceration ($46,000 per year),[3] and number of individuals incarcerated for drug related offenses (870),[4] ending our state ban would result in 23 fewer individuals recidivating, saving more than $1 million in tax dollars.
People of color are arrested more frequently, charged more harshly, and therefore more subject to the drug ban than white people. Eliminating this ban would reduce disparities in our criminal justice system rather than filling our prisons with non-violent, low level offenders.[5]
You can email your senator here to ask them to support LB 121, which is the fourth item on the Legislature’s agenda. Nebraska Public Media will stream all legislative debate live.