SNAP bill would punish poor parents Lawmakers have introduced a bill that would cause non-custodial parents who are behind on child support obligations to lose their Food Assistance. It’s a scaled-down version of a bill that got some traction, but ultimately failed to advance, last year. There are positive, proven strategies Iowa could employ to help non-custodial parents comply with child support obligations. But this is not one of them. We know from the experiences of states that have tried similar measures that they only succeed in punishing parents who are experiencing poverty. They do little to yield extra income for children. In fact, when non-custodial parents lose food assistance because they can't meet the child support requirements, it just makes it harder for them to find stable financial footing. These measures are also administratively complex, requiring states to develop new systems to share information between SNAP and child support recovery units. The bill has been assigned to a subcommittee, but no meeting has been scheduled as of this writing. We’ll be working to educate subcommittee members on the reasons this bill is harmful to Iowa families. | |
Bill tracker Want to go deeper? Curious about the status of key bills? The Center maintains a bill tracker to outline the specific legislation we are following this this session. | |
Find your legislator Not sure who represents you? With 50 senators and 100 representatives, it can be hard to keep tabs. Visit our Legislator Lookup tool to find out who represents you in the state house and senate, biographical information about each one and a link to their legislative websites, which list contact information and committee membership. All you need to do is enter your home address and zip code. | |