ARLINGTON, VA – Food Marketing Institute (FMI) Chief Public Policy Officer & Senior Vice President, Government Relations, Jennifer Hatcher objected to a 13-member task force’s purported recommendations to strengthen and improve the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), stating:
"After nearly three years and dozens of public hearings, it is unfortunate that the Bipartisan Policy Center lacks credibility as an integral part of the policy process in its release today of proposals related to SNAP that have been previously considered and rejected. Among the BPC’s recommendations are the imposition on food retailers of additional fees without any apparent added benefits to program participants, as well as the costly collection and reporting of store-level sales data that would constitute an anti-competitive food retail environment.
"FMI and its members are focused on working with lawmakers and current Administration officials to identify real and thoughtful reforms that will improve the efficiencies and outcomes of the program, rather than increase costs for all customers. Sadly, the BPC’s eleventh-hour proposals are a distraction to a serious effort to develop a Farm Bill that can move through Congress and strengthen SNAP."