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A controversial plan to prohibit needy Coloradans from spending food assistance benefits on soda and other sugary drinks faces another major obstacle.
The plan from Gov. Jared Polis’ office, along with similar food restrictions in other states, was outlawed by a federal judge this week.
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, in Washington, D.C., ruled that the Department of Agriculture does not have the authority to remove categories of food from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. The ruling, from a judge nominated to the bench by former President Barack Obama, was considered a loss for the Trump administration’s Make America Healthy Again movement.
The federal department had approved waivers from several states, including Colorado, that remove soda, energy drinks, candy and other high-sugar drinks and snacks from the list of items people are allowed to purchase with food assistance benefits. SNAP recipients in five states, including Colorado, filed a lawsuit over the food restrictions in March.
In Colorado, the policy was already struggling.
Polis announced in August that the state had won approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to put the “healthy choice” policy in place, but he needed the nine-member, governor-appointed state human services board to adopt the rules. In March, after a daylong hearing, the board refused, saying it was an overreach that harmed the dignity and autonomy of low-income families. It also would make it hard on people with diabetes who need to quickly consume a sugary drink to manage low-blood sugar, they said.
Opponents included homeless advocacy groups, Save the Children, Hunger Free Colorado and a contingent of 27 state lawmakers — all Democrats.
Since then, Polis signed an executive order that prohibits the state from buying soda and other sugary drinks for official state functions. The order came after the human services board said it was unwilling to impose the sugary drink ban on “poor people” when the rest of Coloradans were free to make their own food choices.
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The governor’s staff has said they intended to bring the food assistance sugary drink ban back to the board. And the Colorado Department of Human Services said the ban would take effect in October, pending board approval.
But this week’s court ruling brings that into question.
Polis’ office had not yet responded Tuesday to a question from The Colorado Sun about whether the governor would drop the plan.
His executive order signed last month prohibits state agencies from using state funds to buy soft drinks or alcohol for official state functions, including meetings, conferences or training events. Sugary beverages excluded from the ban are those containing milk or milk alternatives and those made of at least 50% vegetable or fruit juice.
Colorado was also seeking federal approval for a “hot food waiver” that would allow recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to buy rotisserie chickens and other hot foods in grocery stores, and to improve a perk that incentivizes purchases of fruits and vegetables.
The National Center for Law and Economic Justice, a nonprofit that represents low-income families, brought the case that led to the judge’s ruling this week.
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