FINAL BILL REPORT

SB 6136

C 64 L 20

Synopsis as Enacted

Brief Description: Updating restrictions on electronic benefit cards.

Sponsors: Senators Nguyen and O'Ban.

Senate Committee on Human Services, Reentry & Rehabilitation

House Committee on Human Services & Early Learning

Background: Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program and Women, Infants, and Children. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutritional Service (FNS) is the federal agency that administers nutrition assistance programs such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). To be a SNAP authorized retailer under the FNS program, a store must stock at least three types of staple foods with at least three varieties in each of the four staple categories, or a specialty store must have at least 50 percent of sales in one type of staple food.

FNS issues permits to qualified stores to accept SNAP benefits and monitors SNAP stores to ensure they follow program rules. An approved store must use electronic benefits transfer (EBT) equipment for SNAP transactions. Approval and disqualifications are done at the federal level. The Department of Social and Human Services is the state administrator of the SNAP program.

Beer and/or Wine Specialty Licenses. According to the Liquor and Cannabis Board, there are 640 beer and/or wine specialty licensed stores. In 2011, legislation passed prohibiting the use of EBT cards at any store holding beer and/or wine specialty licenses, as well as at other establishments. Without a point of sale machine to read the EBT cards, SNAP was also prohibited.

Summary: If a beer and/or wine specialty store is an authorized SNAP or WIC retailer, the store is not required to disable the ability of ATM and point-of-sale machines located on their premises, which enables them to accept EBT cards.

Votes on Final Passage: